Newsstands empty in strike action
A walk-out by workers at the distribution company NMPP means daily newspapers are not available in kiosks.
Newsstands empty
Daily newspapers are not available in kiosks today after distribution company NMPP went on a 24-hour strike.
Weekly magazines that normally come out on Thursday will be delivered as usual in all areas except for Paris, where there will be a 24-hour delay.
NMPP is the main organisation responsible for delivery of newspapers and magazines to shops and kiosks in France.
Its purpose is to ensure that all newspapers have an equal opportunity to get on newsstands.
The organisation is responsible for the delivery of 85% of France’s newspapers and magazines.
They claim plans to restructure the organisation will jeopardise its integrity and cost jobs.
A spokesman for the strikers said: “We need urgent and realistic negotiations to ensure that national newspaper distribution has a sustainable future in France.
“The fact that newspaper bosses are refusing to negotiate means this co-operative system of distribution, which has existed since 1947, risks being killed off.”
The owners of the 12 big daily newspapers - Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France, La Croix, Les Echos, L'Equipe, Le Figaro, France Soir, the International Herald Tribune, le Journal du Dimanche, Libération, Le Monde, Paris Turf and La Tribune - yesterday published an open letter in their pages denouncing the industrial action, accusing strikers of “wanting to kill the daily press in France.”
