2 Train Strikes in 2 days?

Yesterday afternoon as I was going through Saint Lazare station(by metro phew) I heard the announcement declaring that all the RER (suburban trains) had stopped operating.....so only later did I find out that a train driver had been assaulted by a passenger and the rest of the crew stood up in arms in show of support. I doubt that there were many as lucky as Xavier's dad whose boss sent for a chauffeur to drive him back to Paris from Rouen.
So I think 'going on strike' might be contagious because today the same thing happened in Marseille - yet another aggression and another awful day for commuters. So can someone tell me what the point is? and how is penalising passengers punishing the one person who committed the assault?

Talking about commuting, rush hour in the metro reminds me so much of London. The Parisian commuters could do well in the Olympic speed walking competition the way they tactfully weave through the slower ones through the station concourse and up and down the steps. And not a sigh of annoyance as we were all shoved into the metro compartment, ribs against ribs during a morning rush hour.

Happy Commuting!