Striking transport workers have ‘zero empathy’ for French people: Minister

NICE, France

A French minister on Thursday accused striking workers of having “zero empathy” for public transport users.

Speaking to BFMTV, Gabriel Attal, the public accounts minister, said that striking workers of the French capital's public transport operator RATP showed no empathy to all those "who couldn't go to work, who couldn't get around, who may have had difficulty dropping the children off at school."

Public transport workers are on strike, demanding a wage increase and better working conditions.

Attal said that holding “the strike movement” is a "constitutional right," but insisted that the "difficult situation" caused by inflation affects everyone.

He said that public companies, including RATP, increased their salaries by a little more than 5%.

Earlier, a RATP statement said that there were serious disruptions in urban metro and suburban trains due to the strikes and that more than 30 train and metro stations were closed.

Strikes spread to many cities, including Lyon, Marseille and Nice, as public services, including health and education, were disrupted.

French press described the strikes as a “black day for public transport.”