Paris airport employees strike a few days before the 2024 Summer Olympics

Several unions representing workers at Paris airports today jointly announced plans to strike on July 17, just days before the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, over a dispute over bonuses and working conditions for staff.

The CGT, CFDT, FO and UNSA unions have called the strike to demand that all airport employees receive an Olympic bonus, as well as additional resources during this busy period. According to CBS News, they are protesting against “unilateral decisions by the CEO to pay a bonus to only part of the staff.”

On May 19, the unions of the ADP Group – which operates Paris’ two main airports: Orly and Charles de Gaulle – had already held a strike, which, however, did not lead to any major travel disruptions.

However, the impending strike could have significant consequences as Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports are the main entry points for foreign visitors and athletes arriving for the Paris Olympics. During the Games, up to 350,000 people per day are expected to pass through these airports, including participants who have checked most of their sports equipment as baggage.

The Olympic Athletes’ Village is scheduled to open on July 18, and thousands of athletes will begin arriving on that date. A new temporary terminal has been set up at Charles de Gaulle airport to accommodate oversized luggage such as kayaks, bicycles and pole vault poles.

By comparison, according to France 24, another strike by air traffic controllers at Orly Airport (France’s second busiest airport) led to the cancellation of over 70 percent of flights over a single weekend in May. It was the second strike of its kind in a month; the first resulted in thousands of flights being cancelled across Europe.

It is not only airport workers who are feeling the pressure and demanding extra payments. Across the country, unions representing all types of public sector workers are demanding extra payments or support for their work during the Paris Olympics, which run from July 26 to August 11 and coincide with the traditional French summer holiday season.

Various sectors, including police, firefighters, air traffic controllers, garbage collectors, subway and train drivers, and central government employees, have made such demands. Using the proximity of this major international event as leverage, workers are putting pressure on their employers to give in to their demands in order to avoid disruption.

Even workers at the state mint responsible for producing Olympic medals have gone on strike. However, management said the production of these coveted awards would not be affected.

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