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Strikes at the SNCF: should they be banned during the holidays?
Strike at the SNCF: can they be banned during the holidays? – (France 2)
A strike by SNCF controllers will disrupt rail traffic during the weekend of February 17 and 18, during school holidays. Olivier Marleix, boss of the Les Républicains deputies, wishes to table a law to prohibit strikes at the SNCF on certain dates.
Empty platforms where no trains pass: this image exasperates the right. The boss of the Les Républicains (LR) deputies, questioned by travelers, believes that it is necessary “stop taking people hostage during school holidays”. Olivier Marleix, LR deputy for Eure-et-Loir, wishes to table a law to prohibit strikes at the SNCF on certain dates. On the government side, the new Minister of Transport, present at Montparnasse station (Paris) on Friday February 16, seems to rule out the restriction of the right to strike. “The right to strike is sacred in France, I do not want to limit it”assures Patrice Vergriete.
A right enshrined in the Constitution
The Minister of Transport count on the “sense of responsibility” and social dialogue to avoid these blockages. In France, the right to strike is enshrined in the Constitution. Question it “would infringe rights” SNCF agents in particular, according to Benjamin Morel, lecturer at the University of Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas. The right has tabled two laws in the National Assembly and the Senate.
