The announced strike action, concerning SNCF controllers, for February 16, 17 and 18 should greatly disrupt the circulation of TGVs in France, estimated the president of the Passenger branch of the public company, Christophe Fanichet, Wednesday 14 FEBRUARY. “The objective is to ensure that one in two TGVs runs this weekend,” said Mr. Fanichet, interviewed on Franceinfo, with “as many Ouigos as Inouis.”
The latter, however, said he was “confident” regarding “those who are going to the snow” and, “especially”, “those who left last week”. “The objective is to ensure departures to the snow and returns from the snow,” he insisted, in the middle of the school holidays in zone C (Ile-de-France) and at the start those of zone A (Bordeaux, Lyon, Grenoble, etc.)
The full forecasts will be detailed during a press point organized at Gare de Lyon, Paris, on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Customers, who are informed by SMS and email, are encouraged to postpone their trip to Thursday or Monday, since the disruptions will take place from Friday to Sunday inclusive. “There is still space,” insisted Mr. Fanichet, assuring: “In most cases, you will be able to leave this weekend, by moving back a few hours, or the next day. »
According to him, “one in two TGVs does not mean one in two French people who will go on vacation”, but “much more than that”. Concerning children traveling alone, “we will do our best”, promised the president of SNCF Voyageurs, adding: “I hope that almost all of the children will be able to leave thanks to our service” Junior et Cie. The SNCF is also planning “exceptional compensation”, the conditions of which must be specified on Wednesday afternoon, for those who are unable to travel.
Asked, during a trip Wednesday morning, about the upcoming strike, the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, estimated that, if “the strike is a right”, “working is a duty”. He deplored “a form of habit, [every time a vacation] arrives, to have the announcement of a strike movement” of the railway workers, adding that “it is also the image of the SNCF which , every time, takes a hit.”
Salary demands
The CGT and Sud-Rail are calling for a strike in the middle of the school holidays in zone C and at the start of those in zone A, the UNSA having, for its part, not filed a notice, and the CFDT-Cheminots not having raised his.
The striking unions believe in particular that the crisis exit agreement negotiated at the end of 2022, when a strike during the Christmas weekend left 200,000 travelers in the lurch, is slow to be implemented, and are calling for a lasting increase. of their monthly salary.
For Mr. Fanichet, the controllers’ strike movement is “incomprehensible, because the company’s commitments which were made in December 2022 are being kept”. The CEO of SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, called on the controllers on Tuesday to “think” and “take the dimension” of the concessions made by management before carrying out their strike threat. “We are increasing employment, we are increasing wages, we are offering a platform for social progress, I do not see why in response we would have a disruption for the French who want to go on vacation,” said Mr. Farandou.
To try to avoid the movement, management decided to pay an additional bonus of 400 euros in March for railway workers, increased the residence allowance for employees living where the real estate market is in tension, agreed to 3,000 additional promotions, and decided to create 1,100 additional positions, including 200 controllers, Jean-Pierre Farandou said.
As for the subject of a potential strike by switchers, dependent on the SNCF Réseau subsidiary, for the weekend of February 24 and 25, “it is too early to talk about this subject,” Mr. Fanichet ruled on Wednesday.
