French airport unions call for strike shortly before the Olympic Games in Paris

Paris — Unions representing employees at Paris airports said on Monday that they had taken action in the week before 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris because of a dispute over employee bonuses.

The CGT, CFDT, FO and UNSA unions called the strike on July 17 – nine days before the opening day of the Paris Olympic Games – to demand that all employees receive an Olympic bonus, condemning “unilateral decisions by the CEO to pay a bonus to only part of the staff”.

Unions at the state-controlled Groupe ADP, which operates Paris’ main airports Charles de Gaulle and Orly, had already called a strike on May 19, but this did not lead to any major disruptions. However, the two airports are the main gateway to France for foreign visitors to the Olympics. During the Games, up to 350,000 people are expected to transit there every day, as well as most of the athletes and their equipment.

Thousands of athletes are expected to arrive from July 18th, when the athletes’ village will be opened. At Charles de Gaulle airport, there is a new, temporary, oversized baggage terminal for handling equipment such as kayaks, bicycles or pole vault poles.

Unions representing workers across the public sector in France have called for additional pay or support for their work during the Paris Olympic Games from July 26 to August 11, which fall during the traditional French summer holidays.

Police officers, air traffic controllers, garbage collectors, government workers, subway and train conductors and firefighters have all made demands. Their employers are under pressure to give in to avoid disruption.

Workers at the state mint that produces the medals also went on strike, but management said production was not affected.