Centrist Senators Suggest Regulation of Strike Rights During School Holidays

A potentially controversial proposal has been put forth by the centrist faction in the Senate. On Wednesday, they drafted a text suggesting regulation of the right to strike in transport during specific periods, such as school holidays. They argue this is a means to safeguard the French people from what they term “repeated hostage-taking”. This comes as a strong protest by SNCF controllers looms over the weekend, which will result in many train cancellations. The members of the centrist Union, who are allied with the Republicans in the Senate majority, swiftly responded by proposing a bill to protect the “freedom of movement”.

“We are not seeking to prohibit trade unionists from striking, we are trying to shield the French people from excessive and recurrent hostage-taking,” declared the president of the centrists, Hervé Marseille, to AFP. He voiced his anticipation of similar movements coinciding with the Olympic Games. The proposed text includes a provision to grant the government an annual allowance of 60 days during which strikes can be banned for “public transport services staff”. The executive would have the discretion to distribute this allowance by decree within a limit of fifteen days per ban period, provided a “prior negotiation” takes place.

The proposed legislation, which mirrors the system in Italy, specifically targets school vacation periods, a popular time for unions to issue strike notices. “Train passengers are not just affluent individuals going skiing, they include people travelling home, students, and children of separated parents. This is a recurring issue and it’s becoming intolerable,” adds Hervé Marseille. He vows to present his proposal to the Senate “as soon as possible” and denies any intention to “undermine the constitutionally guaranteed right to strike.”

This comes in the wake of remarks by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who expressed his dissatisfaction on Wednesday over “a pattern, with every holiday that comes around, of a strike movement” by railway workers being announced. “The French understand that striking is a right,” but they “also understand that working is a duty”, stated the Prime Minister.

The senatorial right had previously passed a proposal in 2020 aimed at “ensuring the effectiveness of the right to transport” by guaranteeing a minimum service during strikes. However, it did not succeed in Parliament. When asked about this matter on Wednesday, the president of the Macronist senators François Patriat admitted that he would be open to “all developments” that could help regulate “these untimely, redundant and renewed strikes”.