A French trade union leader on Tuesday warned that the Rugby World Cup could be disrupted by industrial unrest unless the government changes a Bill intended to limit the impact of transport strikes.
Bernard Thibault, of the General Labour Confederation (CGT), said the Bill was an ”intimidatory measure” because it restricted the right to strike.
”It’s going to be a source of tension after the summer holidays,” he told Le Parisien newspaper.
”If the timetable for negotiations … is rushed through from September and if the content remains provocative, then evidently there’ll be conflicts, with or without the Rugby World Cup,” he said.
The Rugby World Cup starts on September 8 and the final takes place at the Stade de France in Paris on October 20.
Unions staged a day of demonstrations on Tuesday against the government Bill, a key election promise of President Nicolas Sarkozy, which began its passage through Parliament the day before.
Opponents object to a clause that obliges public-transport employees to declare 48 hours before a planned stoppage if they will take part. The measure is aimed at ensuring a guaranteed service in strikes, but unions say it breaks the constitutional right to withhold labour.
Didier Le Reste, who heads the railway branch of the CGT, said: ”The World Cup is not an objective in itself, but on the other we’re not the ones who are setting the timetable.”
In 2005, Paris’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games was dealt a blow when a visit by International Olympic Committee delegates coincided with a day of strikes and protests. — AFP
