School, GP and bus strikes this week

TEACHERS, doctors, binmen and public transport workers are all planning to go on strike later this week - just days before the French regional elections.

Unions representing bus and tram drivers in about 30 towns and cities have announced a planned strike this Thursday.

The towns affected are those where the local council has sub-contracted the public transport system to private profit-making companies.

According to the CGT union, these include Rennes, Dijon, Lyon, Tours, Angers, Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Le Mans and Caen.

Smaller strikes are expected in La Rochelle, Troyes, Nantes, Epinal, Valenciennes, Pau, Lorient, Blois, Bourges and Besançon - with more towns expected to join the action in the coming days.

The transport walkout coincides with a strike by GPs on March 11. They are protesting against growing workloads and a lack of resources to hire extra staff.

On Friday, it is the turn of secondary school teachers to strike. Eight teachers' unions are backing the action. Minimum service measures should be in place at schools.

Also taking action on March 12 are binmen - who are due to begin an indefinite strike over pay and conditions across the country.

Magistrates, lawyers and prison wardens are striking on Tuesday. So are charity workers at Emmaüs, who have called the first strike in the organisation's 60-year history.

The big strike day will be on March 23, when unions are calling for a national sector-wide day of action over the government's pension reforms.

The Sud transport union is planning industrial action on the Paris public transport network for that day, affecting buses, trams, the métro and some RER lines that come under the RATP's remit.

Details of further walkouts across the public and private sector are expected this week.

Related stories:
Rubbish collection strike on March 12
Doctors plan March 11 strike
National teachers' strike on March 12
National strike plan for March 23

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