France copes with more rail strikes as labour unions dig in
PARIS — Commuters coped with another day of disrupted train service in France as labour unions insisted Monday they would not back down from a series of strikes that is expected to continue later in the week.
Some 80 per cent of French high-speed trains were out of operation as rail workers entered their fourth day of what the unions promised would be periodic rolling strikes through June. About one-quarter of international trains to and from France also were affected.
The next round of walkouts is scheduled for Friday and Saturday. The unions have set a strike schedule that calls for work stoppages lasting two or four days per week.
“It’s intolerable because we’re all working,” commuter Christelle Gedin said Monday at Paris’ Saint-Lazare station.