The unions of the French railway company SNCF called on Saturday for an indefinite strike starting Wednesday December 11. It could disrupt service during the Christmas holidays.
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They are demanding a moratorium against the dismantling of Fret SNCF, the division dedicated to rail freight, and protesting against the terms of opening regional lines to competition.
In a joint press release sent to AFP, the CGT-Cheminots, Unsa-Ferroviaire, Sud-Rail and the CFDT-Cheminots explain that faced with the lack of “inflection” from the group’s management, the strike will be unlimited and renewable per 24-hour period starting Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00 p.m.
The unions also reiterate their call for a strike from Wednesday, November 20, 7:00 p.m. to Friday, November 22, 8:00 a.m.
Not a first
This is not the first time that social movements within the SNCF have potentially affected school holidays. In February, controllers went on strike during a holiday weekend, leaving 150,000 people in the lurch. For Christmas in 2022, hundreds of TGVs were canceled, again due to a strike.
The unions are opposed to the announced dismantling of Fret SNCF, the leading rail freight company in France, which will disappear on January 1 to be reborn in the form of two separate companies: Hexafret for the transport of goods, and Technis for the maintenance of locomotives. union federations.
This is the second stage of the discontinuity plan negotiated by the French State with the European Commission, to avoid a recovery procedure which could have led to the pure and simple liquidation of the company, which employs 5,000 employees.
In their press release, the trade union organizations “reaffirm that the establishment of a moratorium is possible and necessary to allow the various stakeholders to get back around the table, and find ways to guarantee not only the continuity of Fret SNCF, but also its development in the longer term. “This moratorium is essential given the suffering of our Freight colleagues,” argue the unions.
For Thomas Cavel, general secretary of the CFDT-Cheminots, “we are well ahead of Christmas. Between now and going on vacation, there is more than a month and a half. “It’s a chance for social dialogue,” he told AFP.
When contacted, SNCF management declined any comment.
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