Why French workers’ strikes are spreading

French commuters faced severe disruptions on Tuesday as transport workers heeded a call by trade unions for a nationwide strike demanding higher salaries.

Employees in both the public and private sectors took part in the industrial action, which affected schools, the health service, as well the energy sector. The industrial action is an extension of the strikes by oil refinery workers that have been taking place over the last month.

Workers are asking for pay rise amid high inflation and the rising cost of living which results from the global economic fallout following the war in Ukraine.

Demonstrations took place in various cities across the country on Tuesday afternoon, including one in Paris.

On Sunday, the leader of hard-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), Jean-Luc Melenchon, marched alongside this year's Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Annie Ernaux, as thousands took to the streets of Paris to protest against high living costs.

Is inflation particularly high in France?

Inflation across the European Union had reached 10 percent in August, with the highest recorded in the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, where it reached 21-25 percent.

The striking workers have been posing a challenge for President Emmanuel Macron. The strike by refinery workers has severely disrupted fuel supply in the past few weeks, when long queues were seen snaking out of petrol stations.

Impacting around 30 percent of France's service stations since it began three weeks ago, the fuel workers’ strike had a knock-on effect across all sectors of the economy.

Will it affect countries beyond France? 

Workers at TotalEnergies did achieve a deal that includes a 7 percent pay rise and a bonus. But one of the unions, the more hardline General Confederation of Labour (CGT) is requesting a 10 percent pay rise for workers that would take into account not only inflation, but also the company’s inflated profits since the war in Ukraine began.

The strikes have now spilled over into other parts of the energy sector such as nuclear power group Electricite de France (EDF), which the French government plans to fully nationalise in order to tighten its control over energy supplies. The strikes are set to delay key maintenance work, further straining Europe’s power supply as the continent faces an energy crunch due to Russia’s cuts in gas supplies in retaliation for western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

A representative of the FNME-CGT union on Monday said strikes were affecting work at 10 French nuclear power plants, with further maintenance delays at 13 reactors and French power production reduced by a total of 2.2 gigawatts.

What did the French government do?

Last week, the French government intervened in the dispute between employees and oil companies, ordering workers back to work. The move prompted a backlash from unions, but has been upheld in the courts.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire earlier said it was necessary to use requisitioning powers to reopen the refineries and depots.

"The time for negotiation is over," Le Maire told the BFMTV broadcaster.

The head of the CGT union, Philippe Martinez, said on Monday the government should "get around a table" with the unions to discuss an increase in France’s minimum wage. 

A poll by the Elabe group found 39 percent of French people supported Tuesday's action, while 49 percent disapproved of it.