Discounted travel, but at what risks? While the SNCF has launched a “cut-price sale” of several thousand tickets for its Ouigo trains until Wednesday, the CGT, the UNSA Ferroviaire and SUD-Rail are at the same time launching a strike notice from Friday to Sunday for Ouigo staff, to denounce the rampant degradation of the trains of this low-cost model.
“It has been more than two years since the condition of our OUIGO trains has deteriorated significantly, making our working conditions worse (harmful, safety malfunctions, comfort anomalies)! We no longer have to endure equipment failures, delays, cockroaches and bedbugs,” the three unions wrote in a press release dated January 3.
“Insect and Pest Problems”
For the federal secretary of SUD-Rail, Julien Troccaz, as for the co-signatories of the call to strike, it is quite simply Ouigo's low-cost economic model which is reaching its limits. “Ouigo is based on an operating model with very capacity trains, in which we, for example, removed the bar. Which is not trivial since if travelers want to have dinner or a snack, they are obliged to take their own food. It takes a lot more time to clean the train, and you end up with insect and pest problems. It’s not fair because employees do their jobs poorly,” he explains to 20 Minutes.
But there are not only problems of unsanitary conditions, railway workers are increasingly fearful for their safety, and more generally for that of passengers. “Over the last three months, the Ouigo TGVs have accumulated more incidents, reductions and train cancellations than over the last two years, on all routes combined,” denounces the press release.
Rally then walkout
Here too, for Julien Troccaz, the economic model is coming to an end: “The trains have major maintenance problems. They are broken all day, and only come into maintenance for shorter slots, and night slots. There are not the same maintenance possibilities during the day as at night, and this also creates health issues for railway workers. »
To denounce these travel and working conditions, as for the controllers who increasingly have to deal with the anger of travelers, the three unions will begin their mobilization this Friday with a rally from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Ouigo headquarters at the station. of Lyon in order to “challenge management together”. Before walking out this weekend.
As for the management of SNCF Voyageurs, we assure that social dialogue is still ongoing. “The rules of maintenance and upkeep [pour les trains Ouigo] are the same as for the entire TGV fleet,” indicated Tuesday during a press point the general director of Ouigo, Jérôme Laffon, reports AFP. “I consider it irresponsible to say that agents or customers are put in danger on security issues,” he insisted.
