Strike to bring severe disruption to Paris buses and trams this week

Parisian bus and tram services will be severely disrupted today, tomorrow and Wednesday (May 23-25) as RATP workers go on strike.

RATP has stated that “60% of traffic will be running as normal on average,” but that métro and RER services will not be affected.

It is predicted that three in every five trams will be running at rush hour today, with the T1, T3a, T3b and T8 suspended from late morning until the middle of the afternoon.

Some two in three buses will be operating but with “certain lines” suspended. However, RATP did not add which lines would be included in this.

“On Tuesday, May 24, services should be slightly improved,” the regional transport operator states.

RATP has been negotiating with the CGT, FO, UNSA and CFE-CGC unions on issues relating to working conditions for over a year, but no agreement was reached by the April 29 deadline.

This lack of resolution has already given rise to strikes on February 18 and March 25, where bus drivers took action in protest against the upcoming opening of the RATP network to competition.

This shift – which will come into effect in 2025 – will see worker conditions change, with RATP’s HR director Jean Agulhon saying: “We have proposed increasing working hours by 120 per year.

“This will all be in return for a €2,600 pay rise, the equivalent of a fourteenth month. Seeing as an agreement has not been reached, we have opted for plan B,” which involves 20 hours more per year for a €460 salary increase.

Arole Lamasse of the UNSA union responded: “The management’s choice to stop negotiations when they feel like it is scandalous.

“The management’s suggestion must be improved as, at this stage, with the 20 hours and the salary increase on the table, the company is the financial winner.

“I am telling the management: ‘Be careful!’ We are embarking on two years of very fierce social resistance.”

Related articles

Worst French airports for delays and seven other France travel updates

French train company SNCF to auction locomotives for more than €1.2m

149 electric buses suspended in Paris area after two fires in a month