A threatened strike by ski lift operators at French resorts appeared to be aimed at focussing the minds of politicians on the plight of seasonal workers rather than intending to actually spoil holidays and damage resort businesses trying to recover after pandemic closures.
Two unions, Force Ouvrière (FO), which represents ski lift operators and the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) are both reported to have issued threats of a strike from (or 'on' depending on what you read) next Tuesday 31st January.
That's because although it's being widely reported that the strikes are of an "unlimited" duration, a statement from the Les Arcs lift company, and others, is disputing that.
"We received a provisional notice of strike from a part of our staff for Tuesday 31/12/23, to protest against the new pension reform in France. Unlike the media messages (French and international), this strike is scheduled only for Tuesday 31/12/23 and non to an unlimited extent. The same strike took place on 19/01/23 with no consequences on our ski area opening, with no impact for our clients skiing on this day. We will do our best to minimize again the impact on our customers and we deplore the negative and stressful messages delivered by the media. A communication from our partner, Domaine Skiable de France, has been released recently, which also deplores these wrong and negative messages."
The unions are concerned about pay, pension changes and terms and conditions for seasonal workers. The strike is part of wider protests against government plans that include raising the pension age in France from 62 to 64.
It's not the first time French ski resort workers have voted to strike at peak periods of the season and, while there are no guarantees, previously the threats in seasons past have not resulted in many significant lift closures.