French airport worker unions call for strike week before Paris Olympics

The CGT, CFDT, FO and UNSA unions called the strike on July 17 -- nine days before the start of the Paris Games -- to demand that all staff receive an Olympics bonus, denouncing "unilateral decisions from the chief executive to pay a bonus to only some personnel."

Unions at state-controlled Groupe ADP, which runs Paris' main airports Charles de Gaulle and Orly, had previously called for a strike on May 19, which did not cause major disruption.

The two airports will be the main gateway into France for foreign visitors to the Olympics, with up to 350,000 people a day expected to transit there during the Games, as well as most athletes and their equipment.

Thousands of athletes are expected to begin arriving from July 18, when the athletes' village opens, with a new temporary over-sized baggage terminal at Charles de Gaulle set to handle equipment such as kayaks, bikes or polevaulting poles.

Unions representing workers across the public sector in France have demanded extra pay or support for having to work over the July 26-August 11 Paris Games, which fall during the traditional summer holiday in France.

Police, air traffic controllers, rubbish collectors, central government employees, metro and train drivers as well as firefighters have all made demands, with their employers under pressure to yield to avoid disruption.

Workers at the national mint, which is producing the medals, have also been on strike, but management says that production has not been affected.