Eurostar passengers in Paris continued to be hit by major disruption on Monday due to industrial action being carried out by French customs officers while charter flights to ski resorts have also been subject to disruption. Here’s what you need to know about the ongoing protests.
The long delays at Paris Gare du Nord and on the motorways around Calais over the past week have caused no shortage of frustration among passengers and on Saturday the industrial action started affecting people taking flights to French ski resorts.
Here’s what you need to know about the situation that continued to blight travel plans on Monday.
Why exactly are French customs officials striking?
The reason behind the industrial action, which began on March 4th, is customs officials are trying to press demands for higher pay and demonstrate what will happen if greater controls are put in place once Britain leaves the European Union, planned for later this month.
Instead of going on strike — meaning they would not work at all — the customs officers have been carrying out work-to-rule industrial action which means that they only do what is required by the rules of their contract.
This means that they precisely follow all safety or other regulations, which has means lots of checks and questions which has slowed down the flow of passengers through terminals at Eurostar, EUrotunnel and the ports in Calais and now at airports in the Alps.
