Night has long fallen on Mollégès (Bouches-du-Rhône), when Stéphane Vanhaerens, 37, puts on his orange outfit, kisses his daughters and his wife and joins, 40 minutes away, the Miramas marshalling yard.
Reserve agent for SNCF Freight, he is a locomotive driver: his locomotive will carry out towing operations on the site all night long.
A former mason, he joined this “big house“what is the SNCF in 2018.”In my eyes, it was somethinghe remembers. Job security, a certain family camaraderie, and then advantages: free train tickets, full-board holidays, I had never experienced any before!“He works odd hours and earns, with bonuses, between 2,500 and 3,000 euros per month.”But I work at night, three weekends out of four. It is certain that for family life, it is not ideal.”
In 2018, Stéphane was one of the last hires as a railway worker, at Fret SNCF. At the Miramas station, 80 agents, this is the case for half of his colleagues: the others are contractual, temporary… This difference in status, he feels, complicates mobilization, while the unions have called to strike on November 21 and are now heading towards a renewable movement from December 11. “Not everyone feels affected in the same wayhe notes. And that's normal because we don't know what will happen to us in the freight business. 7% of jobs would be threatened, but which ones? We are in the dark.”
This lack of clear perspectives is what gives this CGT delegate the motivation to mobilize. “Somewhere, we know that we won't win anything but we fight to, at least, not lose“, he explains.
