Factbox-Strikes, protests in Europe over cost of living and pay

[October 20, 2022]  (Reuters) - European countries are facing more strikes and protests due to high energy prices and mounting costs of living. Here are details of some industrial actions and demonstrations.

FRANCE

* Workers at TotalEnergies ended their strikes at all but two sites in France on Thursday, and morning staff at the Normandy and Feyzin refineries were the only ones to continue the stoppage, a CGT union representative said.

* Strikes have affected work at 20 of France's 56 nuclear reactors, an FNME-CGT power union representative said on Wednesday, delaying maintenance at many of them ahead of planned talks with operator EDF. The union has been staging rolling strikes over wages at some nuclear power plants.

* The CGT said it was calling for a strike at luxury goods company L'Oreal to seek higher wages for staff.

* Regional train traffic in France was cut by about half on Tuesday as several unions called a nationwide strike. They are seeking to capitalise on anger over decades-high inflation to expand weeks of industrial action at oil refineries to other sectors. There was also some disruption to schools as the strike primarily affected the public sector.

* Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to protest against soaring prices.
 

BRITAIN

British railway workers union RMT said on Wednesday it would take strike action against 14 train operating companies in early November after the country's rail industry body failed to present new offers on pay, jobs and working conditions.

* Nearly 2,000 staff at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, which makes and maintains nuclear warheads, will vote on whether to strike after they rejected a 5% pay award, the Prospect union said on Wednesday. It said a ballot for its members at AWE would open on Oct. 24 and run for two weeks.

* About 1,000 GXO drivers in Britain will take strike action over five days from the end of the month in a dispute over pay, the Unite union said on Tuesday, warning of disruption to beer deliveries.

* Hundreds of workers at the port of Liverpool, one of Britain's largest container ports, are due to take two more weeks of strike action over pay and jobs from Oct. 24. The Communication and Workers Union, representing 115,000 Royal Mail postal workers, held strikes in September and early October, and have threatened more strikes after months of failed negotiations over pay and operational changes.

Protestors attend a demonstration in Paris as part of a nationwide day of strike and protests for higher wages and against requisitions at refineries in France, October 18, 2022. The sogan reads "Bruno Le Maire, give us your salary". REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

* More than 300,000 members of Britain's largest nursing union have begun voting over a strike to demand a pay rise. Junior doctors and ambulance workers also plan to ballot over pay disputes. Rail workers have also walked out over disputes over pay and job security.

GERMANY

* Pilots at Lufthansa's Eurowings began a three-day strike over working hours on Monday, their union said, affecting tens of thousands of the budget airline's passengers. The walkout is due to end at 2159 GMT on Oct. 19.

HUNGARY

* Thousands of Hungarian students and parents protested on Oct. 14 in the second major rally in two weeks to support teachers who have been fired for joining a strike for higher wages, and more teachers being warned of dismissal.

CZECH REPUBLIC

* Tens of thousands of Czechs protested in Prague on Sept. 28 against the government's handling of soaring energy prices and the country's membership of NATO and the European Union. The demonstration was organised by far-right and fringe groups and parties including the Communists.

BELGIUM

* Thousands took to the streets in Brussels on Sept. 21 to protest at soaring energy prices and the cost of living. A similar protest in June drew around 70,000 Belgian workers.

(Compiled by Alison Williams and Catherine Evans; Editing by Alex Richardson and Andrew Heavens)

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