In a move designed to give companies and travellers greater certainty, the Law Committee of France’s National Assembly approved a draft bill on 17 January that would cap strike action by publicly owned transport operators at 30 days per calendar year. The text, revealed on 19 January 2026, covers the rail giant SNCF, Paris metro and bus operator RATP, flag-carrier Air France-KLM, Aéroports de Paris, and the country’s major seaports.
If enacted, the bill will force management and unions to draw up a rolling “black-out calendar” shielding peak-demand periods such as school holidays, examination weeks, global trade fairs and international sporting events from industrial action. Once the 30-day quota is reached, a compulsory two-week mediation phase would kick in, nudging disputes toward arbitration rather than fresh stoppages.
![French MPs Endorse 30-Day Annual Ceiling on Transport Strikes]()
Business-travel stakeholders say the ceiling could slash contingency budgets. SNCF alone registered 62 strike days in the Olympic year 2025, costing an estimated €400 million in re-booking fees, taxi vouchers and lost productivity. Aerospace group Safran told VisaHQ it spends almost €2 million a year on disruption-related costs and expects the new framework to halve that figure.
France is jockeying to attract post-Brexit investment and will host the 2026 Winter Youth Olympics; lawmakers argue predictable mobility is now a competitiveness issue. Unions, however, have denounced the measure as a “sharp restriction” on the right to strike and have threatened to petition the Constitutional Council.
For global-mobility managers the advice is to map 2026 assignment start dates and corporate events against the prospective protected windows and to bake the forthcoming law into travel-management and relocation contracts. If the text clears the Senate in February, the cap could be in force before the busy Easter travel season.
If enacted, the bill will force management and unions to draw up a rolling “black-out calendar” shielding peak-demand periods such as school holidays, examination weeks, global trade fairs and international sporting events from industrial action. Once the 30-day quota is reached, a compulsory two-week mediation phase would kick in, nudging disputes toward arbitration rather than fresh stoppages.
Business-travel stakeholders say the ceiling could slash contingency budgets. SNCF alone registered 62 strike days in the Olympic year 2025, costing an estimated €400 million in re-booking fees, taxi vouchers and lost productivity. Aerospace group Safran told VisaHQ it spends almost €2 million a year on disruption-related costs and expects the new framework to halve that figure.
France is jockeying to attract post-Brexit investment and will host the 2026 Winter Youth Olympics; lawmakers argue predictable mobility is now a competitiveness issue. Unions, however, have denounced the measure as a “sharp restriction” on the right to strike and have threatened to petition the Constitutional Council.
For global-mobility managers the advice is to map 2026 assignment start dates and corporate events against the prospective protected windows and to bake the forthcoming law into travel-management and relocation contracts. If the text clears the Senate in February, the cap could be in force before the busy Easter travel season.
Source: VisaHQ Global Mobility News
