The farmers, the Michelins, and in a few days, the railway workers. The four representative unions of the SNCF (CGT Cheminots, Unsa Ferroviaire, SUD Rail, CFDT Cheminots) are calling for mobilization on November 21. A prelude to the harder and longer movement – a renewable strike – that they want to launch from December 11, and which could disrupt service during the Christmas holidays, as in 2019, during the major mobilizations against pension reform .
Representatives of railway workers are calling for a moratorium on the dismantling of Fret SNCF, the division dedicated to rail freight, scheduled for January 1, 2025, and are protesting against the terms of opening regional lines to competition. And if they do not boast of it, the unions are trying to take control of the obligatory annual salary negotiations which will open on Wednesday.
“Stay on the side of the French!” »
“The strike is avoidable,” insists the CEO of the railway company, Jean-Pierre Farandou, in an interview with La Tribune on Sunday. “The French would not understand a long and hard strike in December for salary issues, they would not understand not being able to join their families to celebrate Christmas… Especially at a time when France is experiencing a complicated economic situation, with social plans in companies, jobs threatened. This is why I say to the railway workers: stay on the side of the French! (…) I appeal to the railway workers’ sense of responsibility,” he insists.
VideoSNCF: unions call for a renewable strike 10 days before the Christmas holidays
The CEO, who says he is almost certain to remain at the head of the company until May 2025, when he will have reached the age limit, highlights this “17%” increase in remuneration between 2022 and 2024. , “and even 21% for low wages”. “For the last three years, we have protected their salaries beyond inflation. Today, inflation is falling considerably. It is therefore normal for us to adjust,” he pleads.
The first elements shared by management with union organizations last week suggested that the salary boost would represent “nothing or not much”, according to an internal source interviewed by Le Parisien.
The end of SNCF Freight confirmed
Regarding the dismantling of Fret SNCF, Farandou recalls that it results from “an agreement between the European Commission and the French government”, which makes a suspension impossible. But, he wants to reassure, Fret SNCF railway workers “who benefit from SNCF status will keep it” when they are transferred to the two new subsidiaries, Hexafret for freight transport and Technis for locomotive maintenance.
A meeting is planned for November 27, “the schedule of discussions is long enough for us to have time to dialogue. And to complete the negotiations without going through a strike,” he insists. 500 positions will disappear. “Some will go into TER activities. There will be no layoffs,” promises Farandou.
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