The UK has fallen into a travel black hole
The Paris protest on Sunday evelopment of reform measures against the cost-of-living crisis: Pressures from a hard-left coalition to Macron’s government
PARIS — More than 1 million people demonstrated across France on Thursday against unpopular pension reforms, and violence erupted in some places as unions called for new nationwide strikes and protests next week, coinciding with King Charles III’s planned visit to France.
The march had been planned long before the strikes by a coalition of left-wing parties eager to capitalize on the cost-of-living crisis and assert itself as the leading opposition force to President Emmanuel Macron. But on Sunday, organizers signaled that they intended to build momentum from the climate of social unrest to increase pressure on Mr. Macron’s government.
The lawmaker from France Unbowed, the hard-left party that led Sunday’s protest, said that we need to be tougher. He added that the government could “no longer decide on its own.”
Mr.Macron is in a very dangerous situation. He is simultaneously facing discontent over shortages at gas stations, along with labor strikes and a fierce opposition in the National Assembly, the lower and more powerful house of Parliament, which may try to bring down his government this week over a disputed budget bill.
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The UK: Christmas, Christmas movies, and the political chaos of the UK — a question of if it’s feasible for December 23-31?
The UK: home to tradition, cozy cottages and Christmas movies. If you want to spend the holiday period in a thatched cottage or at an airport, then this is the place for you.
The UK has seen snow in southern england this year, so it’s the perfect time for it. It has been years since there was a white Christmas.
There’s just one problem: getting there. Since there’s no Covid-caused restrictions for the first time in a year, it’s a question of if it’s feasible for this month.
The UK is experiencing unprecedented industrial action because of political chaos — the country went through three prime ministers earlier in the fall.
The Border Force controls immigration and checks peoples’ passports as they enter the UK. Workers for this government department will strike from December 23-26, and again from December 28-31.
The UK is battered by freezing weather, with roads snarled up by snow, airports experiencing flash closings due to ice and flights being diverted due to ice.
Experts say it is a toxic combination stemming from job cuts, high inflation in the UK and a government that’s refusing to offer concessions to workers.
It’s really stressed out for people to travel to be with family during the festive period and after a few years of separation. We don’t know how bad it’s going to be because we haven’t seen industrial action on this scale before.”
Two friends of hers were planning to travel to the UK for a short break — one from Ireland, one from Belgium — but decided against it, because of the strikes.
“Living it daily here you don’t think of it as being that severe, but it does feel that any plans you make are not guaranteed to go ahead if you’re relying on public transport,” she says.
The UK Travel Chaos December 2022: Predictions for UK Airports and Newhaven Ports, and the Strikes at the Border
The biggest barrier for those coming from abroad? The border, where immigration officers will down tools over the Christmas period at six major airports — Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow — and Newhaven port.
Suella Braverman, the UK Home Secretary, warned of “undeniable, serious disruption” because of the strikes and urged anyone flying to rethink their travel plans over the holidays.
As a contingency, the government is deploying the army to man immigration desks. The Army personnel were watching the border process as early as December 10.
“Military aid to the civil authorities is a longstanding and established process which allows the specialist capabilities of the UK Armed Forces to be utilized to support civil authorities responding to a domestic emergency,” said a spokesperson for the Home Office.
While the government has advised airlines to cut 30% of flights, no airline has yet done so, and only easyJet is offering affected passengers free rebooking.
“It could go really, really badly,” says Rhys Jones. The overcrowding in the terminal could result from the fact that airplanes have to keep passengers onboard. From then, it’s a snowball effect.
“Aviation works on planes being in the right place at the right time,” says Jones. A massive network crisis can be caused by aircraft being out of position. The worst case scenario? “Knock-on effects for days.”
The baggage handler strikes will be called off at the last minute and Jones thinks it will not be a total catastrophe. Airlines have not canceled flights so far, and anyone can use the e-gates. “The main bottleneck will be where you have to see an officer,” he says.
If you have flexibility, and if it’s affordable, changing your flight means you’re taking less of a risk. I’d hold fast if the airlines haven’t canceled flights yet.
Rhodes recommends arriving with plenty of time at the airport, and not using public transportation to get there. Travel insurance with cover for delays, or missed flights due to long lines, is also on her Christmas list.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/uk-travel-chaos-december-2022/index.html
Can the rail strikes stop the hospitality sector? The worst state the railways have been in 30-plus years, according to Nicholls, a hotel executive
But no. The rail strikes will cost the hospitality sector an estimated billion dollars in lost earnings as people stay home, says Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality. That’s the same financial impact as the arrival of the omicron variant had last December.
“This is the worst state the railways have been in in the 30 years I’ve been reporting on them,” says Christian Wolmar , railway analyst and author of multiple books about trains.
He thinks the situation was worse in 2000 when a crash outside London killed four people and injured 70, showing up a lack of maintenance and accountability within the railway system.
“The railway can only be changed very gradually, and needs to be done by negotiation,” says Wolmar. “The damage is that people have been put off using the railways, and it’ll take some time to repair that. Railways are an essential part of infrastructure and the government is acting as if it doesn’t really matter that much, and we can have strikes. You can’t. Recognition that the railways are very important is crucial.”
Politicians are blamed for equating regular pay negotiations with structural decisions about cost-cutting and maintenance. “The government could solve this if it took a more sanguine view of what could be achieved, instead of mixing productivity deals with sorting out the wage rises,” he says.
It was antagonized by mixing in a lot of demands. It doesn’t need to be this complex — negotiate the pay rise, with the cost of living crisis and inflation. They’re happy with less than 10%. Inflation in the UK rose to a 41-year high in October. Workers had been offered 5% in the first year and 4% in the second, plus a guarantee of no compulsory redundancy until 2025. One union, TSSA, accepted the terms on December 15. The union that is the largest in transport didn’t budge.
The unions suggested the strikes could last for months after the government refused to deny that it struck a last-minute deal before the action began.
The UK’s rail network is functional after the strikes: Iain Griffin, CEO of Seat Frog, and Kate Nicholls
It added: “The tide is turning and it is clear to everyone that this offer is fair and reasonable, giving better pay to workers but delivering vital reforms to our railways.”
Iain Griffin, CEO of Seat Frog, a company that allows users to bid for cut-price upgrades on trains, says that the strikes’ impact is the worst he’s ever seen.
After a devastating couple of years for its inbound tourism — visitor numbers were down 82% in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic figures, and this summer saw a furore over water companies discharging raw sewage onto beaches — perhaps “functional” is the best the UK can hope for.
Turner, who deals with clients from all over the world, said there is “definitely knowledge of it out there.” He has several hundred clients visiting the UK this month, and his team is working extra hours to create contingency plans.
Kate Nicholls agrees that it’s already changing habits. European visitors who come for a weekend won’t come, she says. The whole transport system is creaking, and that has an effect on international consumer confidence that they can come to the UK and get around. We need to get the message out that the UK is still open for business — it might take longer to get around, but it’s functional.”
France’s epoch of protests against pension reforms: RATP, transport agencies, SNCF, TGV and the Eiffel Tower
The transport agency RATP stated that most lines on the metro in Paris are only used at the busiest times. The main education trade union said 120 schools would close for the day on Sunday and the majority of primary school teachers in the capital would be on strike.
High-speed and regional trains, the Paris metro and public transportation systems in other major cities were disrupted. About 30% of flights at Paris Orly Airport were canceled.
National railway operator SNCF said very few regional trains would operate and that four out of five trains on the TGV, France’s intercity high-speed rail service, would be canceled.
According to an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche, the secretary general of the CGT said that unions were moving up a gear and that the government had to listen to workers.
France has endured a series of strikes this year, as workers rail against President Emmanuel Macron’s planned pension reforms. The reforms will gradually increase the age at which most French citizens can draw a state pension to 64, from 62.
More than a million people took to the streets of the country on January 19 to protest, causing the Eiffel Tower to close.
The government said the pension legislation was needed to tackle a funding deficit, but the reforms angered workers as living costs went up.
If there is no support from opposition lawmakers, the government could go ahead and push through a budget-related bill without a parliamentary vote.
Protests and demonstrations in Paris for the withdrawal of the reform, and the France-Parisi government as a result of the Paris-Landau protests
The unions called for protests and strikes on Tuesday when the british king is due to visit Bordeaux on the second day. The heavy wooden door of the elegant Bordeaux City Hall was set a fire and quickly destroyed Thursday evening by members of an unauthorized demonstration.
As fires raged in some Paris neighborhoods Thursday night, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin reassured the citizens that security was good and that the British monarch would be well received.
There are troublemakers who want to take down the state and kill the police, the minister said.
The strike action is still going on and unions vow that it will continue until the law is scrapped.
The eight unions that are organizing the protests confirm the determination of the world of workers to get the withdrawal of the reform. It called for localized action this weekend and new nationwide strikes and protests Tuesday.
The issue of violence at protests has increased recently. Thousands of security forces were in the streets of Paris, Darmanin said.
Police used tear gas and charged multiple times to break up the riots after they were hit with objects and fireworks. A haze of tear gas fumes covered part of the Place de l’Opera, where demonstrators converged at the march’s end. Darmanin said that radicals numbered over 1,500.
In the western cities of Rennes and Lorient, an administrative building and the courtyard of the police station were attacked, and in Lyon, the windows of the police station were broken.
The Paris protests are expected to continue through the end of the 2018 Paris peace & unity campaign in the light of Macron’s proposal for a new retirement law
In an interview Wednesday, Macron refused to change his mind that a new law is needed to keep retirement coffers funded. Opponents proposed higher taxes on the wealthy as a way to hurt the economy. He insisted the government’s bill to raise the retirement age must be implemented by the end of the year.
“We are trying to say before the law is enacted that we need to find a way out and that the way out is the withdrawal of the law,” Berger told The Associated Press.
The Education Ministry said in a statement that about 24% of teachers walked off the job in primary and middle schools on Thursday, and 15% in high schools.
“We might not have as great of holidays this year, since we don’t pay our employees on strike days,” said Monin, who works in public transport. “But I think it’s worth the sacrifice.”
In the northern suburbs of Paris, several dozen union members blocked a bus depot in Pantin, preventing about 200 vehicles from getting out during rush hour.
While ongoing strikes in France could cause disruptions to services, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office believes that demonstrations in Paris and other parts of France could turn violent.
An advisory from the US State Department remains unchanged from October 2022, with France on a “Level 2: Exercise increased caution” status due to the ongoing threat of terrorism and civil unrest.
Travelers can avoid being caught up in the current outrage if they keep themselves informed of what’s going on, because most of it is relatively isolated.
Up to 25% of TGV inter-city high-speed trains are canceled on strike days, and the Paris Metro is unlikely to run.
Most tourist attractions remain open, except on strike days. During the recent national strike days, both the Eiffel Tower and Versailles were closed.
While it’s still possible to travel to Paris and have a safe vacation, it’s unlikely that current visits will be unaffected by the ongoing protests – particularly when it comes to transport.
Even during normal times, Paris can deliver the surprising; good and bad, as the city is home to more than 11 million people.
