Chaos in France as rail staff 'down tools' over level-crossing accident
French railways staff have massively used their legal right to 'withdraw' from their posts after an accident at a level crossing in north-east France, when 11 people were reported injured, claiming that it was unregulatory that only the driver was present to deal with the incident, provoking massive disrution just as mid-term school holidays began.
AA wildcat strike is disrupting train travel in France for a second day, leaving thousands of people in the lurch at the start of school holidays, reports The Washington Post.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe during a surprise visit Saturday to the Gare de l’Est station in Paris asked the SNCF train authority to examine legal means to get workers back on the job.
Philippe called the walkout a “hijacking” of the law.
Unions said strikers were exercising their “right to withdraw,” which can be invoked in case of perceived danger.
