SNCF employees explain their strike against the dismantling of the freight subsidiary

A strike notice was filed from Wednesday evening to protest against the dismantling of the Fret SNCF subsidiary, scheduled for January 1.

Few disturbances on the rails, Thursday December 12, according to SNCF management. The railway company anticipates normal traffic on TGVs and Ouigos and, on average, 8 out of 10 TER or Transilien trains in circulation. The renewable strike notice was filed by the CGT Cheminots and SUD Rail from Wednesday, 7 p.m. One of the main demands is to suspend the dismantling of the Fret SNCF subsidiary until January 1, a symbolic subject for these strikers met near the Gare de Lyon, in Paris.

The position of the various governments has not changed since last year. In order to avoid a procedure by the European Commission, they recorded the disappearance of the Fret SNCF subsidiary, replaced by two smaller structures and obliged to cede certain contracts to competing companies. A choice experienced as a betrayal by Emmanuel, driver of Transilien and in solidarity with his Freight colleagues: “These are already agents from whom a lot of effort has been asked in the past, who have already seen the organization of their work evolve a lot. We have just ruined everything. There is enormous anger.”

Especially since the official disappearance of Fret SNCF will have grotesque consequences, judges Fabien Villedieu, one of the federal secretaries of SUD Rail: “We have 74 locomotives which, from January 1, will be parked at the depot with their use prohibited!” Incomprehensible for Flavien, sales agent at SNCF, who will also be on strike on Thursday: “It’s an aberration as a railway worker, but it’s also an aberration as a citizen because we’re going to end up with more trucks on the roads and fewer trains on the rails.”

According to SUD Rail, the volume of goods transported by train has also fallen by 17% in France since the announcement last year of the upcoming disappearance of Fret SNCF. Some customers, according to the union, have already preferred to turn to road carriers.