PARIS: An unexpected strike by French workers at Eurotunnel, the undersea link between Britain and continental Europe, interrupted cross-Channel rail traffic on Thursday, threatening the Christmas holiday plans of many travelers.
The protest over bonus pay caused massive disruptions on the busy London-Paris route. Some trains had to return to the French capital just before reaching London, prompting the French government to call the industrial action unacceptable.
Thousands of travelers were stranded at the Gare du Nord high-speed train terminal in Paris.
“We were probably like half an hour from reaching London, suddenly, we hear this announcement,” Sonia Kapur, a 50-year old American tourist told Reuters.
“Then finally, they said: ‘There’s a strike, we have to go back to Paris.’ So that was devastating, because we have a lot of plans,” she added.
Getlink, the operator of the cross-Channel tunnel used by train company Eurostar, said the strike called by French unions had resulted in an interrupted service and the closure of terminals in France and Britain.
The tunnel operator is not covered by a 2007 French law that makes 48-hour strike notice compulsory for transport operators, which is why the walkout took everyone by surprise.
The company said trade unions had rejected a bonus payment of 1,000 euros ($1,097.60) announced by management, demanding that the amount be trebled.
Unions said in a statement they had asked for a better share of the profit after good traffic figures this year. The group’s revenue was up 36 percent to 1.4 billion euros in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period last year.
UNACCEPTABLE
French Transport Minister Clement Beaune said the strike was unacceptable. “A solution must be found immediately,” he added in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Train operator Eurostar said on X: “We would recommend postponing your journey if you can, even if it’s until tomorrow.”
“Well, it’s a bit of a pain, but there’s not really much we can do about it,” said 50 year-old Corrina Lynn, a British tourist from Essex who was heading to London from Paris.
“It’s the stuff of nightmares that you really don’t want to happen. But we’re just going to have to deal with it and try to figure something out,” she added.
Her nine-year old son Matthew, wearing a Disneyland Paris hat, was equally stoical. “I’m a bit frustrated because I want to go home, I want to relax, but we’ll stay here in Paris for a longer time,” he said.
The tunnel strike was also blocking freight and the LeShuttle vehicle transport service. More than 1.1 million trucks and more than 2 million passenger vehicles have crossed the Channel aboard the shuttle service so far this year.
