To combat the scourge of attacks and insults against its employees, the SNCF has launched a major communication campaign using posters throughout France since Monday, June 24. It is notably recalled that insulting an employee is punishable by 6 months of imprisonment and a fine of 7,500 euros.
A strong campaign. “Don’t piss me off, cunt”, “your job is rubbish”, or even “we’re going to see each other again f***ing”, posters are posted in many stations in France since Monday June 24. They are accompanied by the slogan “do you find this violent? We too” and were created with the aim of raising awareness among public transport users about the violence suffered by many SNCF agents. To stop these excesses, the SNCF reminds “that contempt against an agent is punishable by 6 months of imprisonment and a fine of 7,500 euros”.
6,000 acts of violence in 2023
“In 2023, SNCF Voyageurs agents in contact with customers have suffered more than 6,000 acts of verbal or physical violence (insults, insults, threats, physical violence, etc.), or 16 every day on average. 433 resulted in a work accident leading to work stoppage, a figure up 8% in one year,” explains the SNCF in a press release. A worrying trend seems to continue over the first half of 2024.
To counter this increase in violence against its agents, the SNCF has set up surveillance via cameras on certain agents. There should be more than 5,000 in circulation by the end of 2024: “Agents who use it and customers emphasize that beyond the dissuasive effect linked to simply wearing the camera , triggering a recording makes it possible to calm the vast majority of situations and return to more serene exchanges and a peaceful journey,” adds the SNCF.
On May 13, a man strangled an SNCF controller on a TGV when she wanted to check his ticket and was sentenced to 5 months of suspended imprisonment.
