A strike has begun at SNCF, France’s state-owned railway company, and unionists say “mobilisation is strong” at the protest which could last until Sunday.
“Mobilisation is very strong. The management did not welcome us and did not try to negotiate until the last moment and chose the social confrontation for this weekend. The strike is a constitutional right, it is a tool and I remind you that the railway workers will lose money this weekend when they stop working. For us the aim is not to inconvenience people. It is simply a demand for recognition, for a better distribution of wealth within SNCF,” said Julien Troccaz, federal secretary of Sud-Rail, on Friday morning.
The CGT and Sud-Rail gave notice of strike action from Friday to Sunday, when more than a million passengers were expected at railway stations this school holiday weekend. Ticket inspectors are unhappy and want their professional status recognised.
The SNCF ticket inspectors have revived the collective dispute that began in December 2022. The National Collective of Commercial Train Service Agents has persuaded the SUD-Rail union to submit a strike notice. The work stoppage will affect the holiday departures of students in zone A (Poitiers, Bordeaux, Limoges, Clermont-Ferrand, Lyon, Grenoble, Dijon, Bezançon) and the mid-holiday weekend in zone C (Versailles, Paris, Créteil, Toulouse and Montpellier).
SNCF strike to demand higher wages
The main demand of the protesters is recognition of the professional importance of the job of ticket inspector, with monthly bonuses of at least EUR 500 to be taken into account when determining pensions. The SNCF ticket inspectors are also unhappy about working hours and conditions. As far as the controllers are concerned, the management of the railway company has not kept its previous promises in this respect.
Earlier this week, Jean-Pierre Farandou, chairman and CEO of France’s state-owned rail operator, called on union members to call off the strike. Farandou told SNCF controllers to think about concessions made by management before implementing the threatened strike in the middle of the school holiday weekend, reports the French press.
“We will increase hiring, we will increase wages, we are proposing a platform for social progress, I don’t see why, instead, we should have a disruption for French people who want to go on holiday. I urge them to reflect, to be aware of the size of what has been put forward, they are serious, they are solid, they are coherent. And I say to them again, we are ready to discuss all the demands, but in a cold manner,” said the SNCF chief.
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