PARIS — To passengers, Eurostar is modern miracle, whisking them between Paris and London in three comfort-filled hours. But to Eurostar workers who went on strike Monday to protest what they say is lax security, the high-speed trains are terror targets waiting to be struck, according to the Associated Press.
About 100 stewards and others who work aboard Eurostar rallied at Paris’ Gare du Nord train station, and dozens blocked rail lines for several hours, disrupting services before police dislodged them. Most strikers work for a firm that provides catering services for Eurostar.
Their union, the French Confederation of Christian Workers, said the strike was for better security and higher pay.
Union representatives said they feared terrorists could attack the trains, which zoom through the Channel Tunnel that links France and Britain. Guaranteeing security of the 31-mile tunnel and trains that use it has been a priority since it opened in 1994.
The trains “represent France and Britain. What better target?” said Nora Khadir, a union representative who works aboard Eurostar as a purser.
She noted that France’s defense minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, warned as recently as Sunday that France was a “primary target” for terrorists.
French police said they were not aware of any security loopholes surrounding Eurostar and suggested that the union raised such fears to draw attention to their demands for higher pay.
Gerard Laurent, a police spokesman, said no matter how vigilant, there are limits to steps authorities can take to prevent attacks. “We cannot assure security to 200 percent but that does not mean there is negligence at airports or trains stations like Eurostar,” he said.
Specifically, union representatives said cleaners, baggage handlers, platform managers and others with access to Eurostar trains do not pass through X-ray security checks, and that their badges are often checked perfunctorily.
Khadir said uniforms and three employees’ identification badges were stolen last winter. She also said food trolleys go aboard the trains unchecked and that until six months ago, when controls were tightened, illegal immigrants trying to stowaway into Britain were frequently found aboard trains.
“We don’t feel secure,” she said. “The security is pathetic.”
The SNCF, France’s state-run national rail company, and Eurostar’s chairman, Guillaume Pepy, played down the complaints, suggesting union representatives kicked up a fuss to push their pay demands.
“This is the first time these security questions have been raised about Eurostar,” Le Parisien newspaper quoted Pepy as saying. “I can’t help but draw a link with the salary demands.”
Union representatives said French workers aboard Eurostar are paid less than their British counterparts. Khadir, the purser, said their average monthly salary is $1,830, some $450 less than a British purser.
The strike forced the cancellation of six Eurostar trains on Monday morning and affected 5,000 passengers, said Jean-Paul Boulet, an SNCF spokesman. He said the first Eurostar did not leave Paris until 1 p.m. — or more than six hours late.
Passengers waited, bored, until services resumed.
“I’m obviously not at all fond of strikes,” said Michael Lowndes, a Briton returning home from a vacation. “It’s difficult to feel sympathetic when you’re directly affected.”