Paris: French airport labor unions have announced a strike ahead of the Paris Olympic Games over a bonus dispute.
Unions CGT, CFDT, FO and UNSA have announced a strike on July 17, nine days before the start of the Paris Games, to demand an Olympics bonus for all staff.
Unions at ADP, the state-owned group that runs Paris’ main airports Charles de Gaulle and Orly, had earlier called for a strike on May 19, which did not disrupt flight operations.
The two airports will be France’s main gateway for foreign tourists attending the Olympics, with 350,000 people a day during the Games, along with most of the athletes and their equipment expected to enter France.
Thousands of athletes are expected to arrive from July 18, when the Athletes’ Olympic Village opens.
Unions representing public sector workers in France have demanded extra pay or support to work at the Paris Olympic Games from July 26 to August 11.
Police, air traffic controllers, garbage collectors, central government employees, metro and train drivers as well as firefighters have all made demands, and their employers are under pressure to surrender to avoid disruption.
Employees at the National Mint, which produces Olympic Games medals, are also on strike, but management says production has not been affected.
