Eurostar strike threatens London-Paris travel this Christmas
The RMT rail union, which led the recent strikes on the London Underground, will vote on action in coming weeks
Workers are reported to be concerned about safety and reinvestment in the service
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A Eurostar strike looks set to disrupt UK-France services over the Christmas holiday period, as a major UK union lays out plans for action.
The RMT union will bring a strike ballot to its workers on Eurostar services in the coming weeks, a prerequisite for launching action in the sector.
The RMT is one of the UK’s most radical unions, and has previously supported disruptive rail action across the London Underground and several overground services.
If passed, it is likely the strike action will be well-followed and wide-scale cancellations are expected.
The union covers several types of staff on the service, including train managers, control centre staff in the UK, cleaners, and other station workers, meaning a successful ballot will impact services across the board.
The exact dates of the action have not yet been made public (they will be known by the time of the ballot), but it is likely that holiday travel will be targeted to maximise disruption.
Last-ditch negotiations are to take place between the union and Eurostar management in the coming days.
Safety concerns for workers
Union leaders say working conditions and concerns over safety are behind the move.
“Eurostar is making billions in revenue, but frontline staff are being left to deal with unsafe conditions and the consequences of poor management decisions,” said RMT leader Eddie Dempsey.
“Eurostar is prioritising the bottom line ahead of our members’ concerns around investment in safety and good conditions at work,” he added.
The union wants some of the reported €2 billion in revenue Eurostar reported in 2024 to be reinvested into fleet reliability and safety at stations on the network.
Some concerns reportedly go back a year, and in August the union criticised the operator for ‘wrong and dangerous decisions’ generated by a cadre of management that does not have the required technical expertise for their respective roles.
For its part, a Eurostar spokesperson said “The safety of our team members and customers is our absolute priority, and we continue to discuss the matter with the RMT to resolve their concerns. No strike action is confirmed at this stage.”
Will France be hit by SNCF strikes this Christmas?
No rail strikes are planned in France for the holiday period.
However, Christmas rail strikes have been called before in France, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded.
Unions know this is one of the busiest times for travel and thus they have more leverage in disputes.
At the same time, such disruptive action risks evaporating any goodwill from the wider public, as holiday plans get scuppered.
Strike action in the sector this year has seen limited success for the unions.
Major strikes in May and June caused minimal disruption, as state rail operator SNCF rallied volunteers and other temporary workers to fill in gaps.
Prolonged summer strike notices in the sector, with the aim of seeing smaller short-term strikes disrupt services without replacements being drafted in, also failed to materialise into major disruption.
Newly-appointed Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou was head of the SNCF until becoming a part of the ‘Lecornu II’ cabinet.
It is unclear how his relationship with workers on the rail network and his appointment will affect upcoming action in the sector.
