Workers at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport have gone on strike, resulting in at least a quarter of flights on Thursday morning to be canceled. Unionized employees, according to Euronews, walked off the job between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time as part of a protest against low wages.
In total, around 100 flights were canceled, with Air France and EasyJet services the most severely affected—most of these being medium-haul flights. Good to know: The airline’s long-haul flights are largely unaffected by today’s disruption, with only seven, including services to New York and Los Angeles, being delayed. The airlines reported that passengers affected by the disruption will be contacted directly.
Other airports around France are also being affected, while, further abroad, The Connexion reports that the disruption has also impacted services to London, Nice, Rome, Madrid, Porto and Geneva. Airlines beyond the two previously mentioned that announced cancelations from or to Charles de Gaulle include Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways, Vueling, Lufthansa, British Airways, Icelandair, Aer Lingus and Turkish Airlines.
Why the strike? The workers are asking for a €300 pay rise for workers, “without conditions and for everyone” to help them cope with rising inflation. They are also asking for the hiring of more staff. In calling the strike, unions stated that “despite the resumption of [air] traffic and the profits made, our work is not fairly paid. Everything is going up apart from our salaries.”
Thursday's strike marks the second day where travel is impacted in Paris' airports, after security guards at airports Charles de Gaulle and Orly Airport went on strike Wednesday, June 8, to protest staff shortages. The Local reports that the strike could go beyond June 9.
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