dmu

Why am I surprized that the threatened grève des contrôleurs is coming to pass this weekend (and no doubt the 1st Jan weekend, too)?
I, for one, am sorely affected again. My train (within France) has been cancelled and I had a job to get another reservation the day before the strike, AT A PRICE. To add insult to injury, I have had to book a hotel for the night. I'm wondering whether the strikers would consider reimbursing me....
Theoretically I'll arrive at destination tomorrow, but I do pity families who haven't been able to find a solution to celebrate Christmas together .
Rant over, but, although I recognize their right, French strikers are my pet hate!

cyrian

My DD and family were booked to travel by train from London to Scotland on Monday two days after the 48 hour strike to allow the service to get back to normal.
Her train was cancelled two hours before departure and all subsequent trains were fully booked.
She ended up driving.
The UK currently has strikes by railway workers; nurses; ambulances and postal workers.
Many Brits don't realise that these problems are the same in other countries and that high fuel prices and food prices are found in throughout Europe.
I am afraid that we are all in the same boat.

• (Mine is a small inflatable rubber dingy )

EuroTrash

Sorry to hear tha, dmu and cyrian. Hope you and everyone else affected have lovely Christmases in spite of everything.

Cyrian - don't forget the Eurostar staff, Highways Agency, driving examners, border control staff and other civil servants...

cyrian

Annetje

I wonder if one can compare the French and UK strikes.
We all know, in France they strike first and then search for the excuse whilst in the UK, things have to be pretty bad before they strike, especially people connected to the heath service (nurses, ambulances).

Also, are the UK workers on strike because of high prices ?
Isn't it because of low salaries not keeping up with inflation for the last 12 years ?

dmu

I realize that it's no better in the UK!
One good thing (all things being relative) is that French strikers must give 48 hrs' prior notice. Or at least I hope they comply. Murphy's Law being what it is, all my fingers and toes will be crossed this afternoon!

cyrian

Yes, in the UK the strike dates are published well in advance but trains out of position and a ban on overtime means that some services are cancelled at short notice.

dmu

Murphy's Law rules supreme!
I've been stymied three times since my above Christmas moan. In February, a long-planned trip to Paris had to be cancelled due to train strikes; another long-planned trip to Switzerland (by train) in March was cut short since the French section of my return home was cancelled; and now a trip to Paris this coming week has had to be cancelled, due to the General Strike on the 23rd * and random SNCF and RATP disruptions on other days.
I know that I'm not the only one affected, but 4 trips affected in 3 months makes me wonder whether I'm targetted....
* The General Strike will affect many sectors on Thursday, including Administrations.

Helen1964

I’ve just spent an hour on my apps rebooking a train + flight trip to Belfast on Thursday.
I’ve rebooked everything for Wednesday and just hope that works but who knows.
Am hoping there won’t be too much disruption on Wednesday if they’re working themselves up for a big one on Thursday.

dmu

I feel for you! Uncertainty is stressful....
Where are you flying from?
Hopefully not Beauvais. A friend of mine learned the day before, that her relative's low-cost plane was cancelled, apparently due to ground staff strike action. Another problem is that, for the last few weeks, trains have been cancelled every day, at random.
Fingers crossed for you tomorrow (and for your return!)

Helen1964

Thanks DMU. Flying out of CDG.
Serves me right for complaining to friends the other day that foreign travel had got boring.