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Demonstration of Kicéo drivers in : the network is cracking everywhere

Under a bus shelter at Place de la République in , Francine is patient, impassive. The old lady, who came to do her shopping on Saturday December 21, “has been waiting for her bus since exactly two hours, to return to Saint-Nolff, on line 8”. From her lookout post, she saw the procession of nearly 70 Kicéo bus drivers pass in one direction, then the other, in orange vests, the color of the union of their sole delegate, the CFDT. A historic demonstration against a backdrop of foghorns, in the city center. “I went to talk to one of the demonstrators. It is not to increase their salaries but for their working conditions. They don't strike for pleasure. I am united,” assures Francine.

“Come drive the buses with us”

Inside the procession, Franck Sturm, a driver, grabbed the megaphone. “Come drive the buses with us,” he suggests to passers-by on rue Thiers, many of whom look at the demonstration with either weary or annoyed eyes. For the strikers, there is a before and after January 2024, the date of their arrival at the helm of Transdev. Since then, “if we want to respect travel times, we have to eliminate our breaks,” notes Franck Sturm.

Is it the fault of the traffic, the works, the announced journey times which do not correspond to reality? “It’s all of that at the same time,” he believes. The times are not suitable, and there is traffic, plus the risks – we are avoiding dozens of accidents per day, since the start of the year we have had four. We are stressed. We cannot speed and the bus will not pass over vehicles.”

Franck Sturm, bus driver at Kicéo for three years: “There is one very positive point despite the fatigue since January: the dedicated lanes, which save us even a minute when there are traffic jams, are precious. Hats off to the Agglo, it makes our lives easier.” (Le Télégramme/Caroline Lafargue)

Kicéo’s proposals expected this Thursday

With around 70 strikers, according to François Tabourot, the Kicéo union delegate, the mobilization was equivalent to that of last Monday. “The negotiations on Friday morning with the management of Kicéo took place in a constructive state of mind,” he specifies, with one breakthrough, the imminent hiring of a mechanical workshop manager. Concerning the central point, the revision of travel times, “management should present its proposals to us this coming Thursday”.

The bus drivers' demonstration was scheduled for a Saturday morning at Vannes market time, to be seen by as many people as possible, at Place de la République. (Le Télégramme/Caroline Lafargue)

Only on lines 4 and 7. “I ask to see. I believe them in good faith,” he adds. The other lines would be reworked for the start of the 2025 school year, including line 8, the possible split into two of which has returned to the table.

The strikers are asking for a guarantee to accept these months of waiting: “that our break times appear in black and white on the duty rosters, and are respected”. Until Thursday December 26, the split strike will continue.

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