In France, the direction of the SNCF proposed Thursday, December 22, ” complementary measures for the controllers in order to prevent their strike, which will disrupt the Christmas weekend, from extending into the New Year. The government is maintaining pressure on the SNCF.
The management of the public group had brought together the representative unions Thursday evening by videoconference, while nearly half of the controllers will be on strike during the Christmas weekend, causing the cancellation of one in three trains on Friday and two trains on five on Saturday and Sunday, mostly TGVs. The unions have until Friday noon to decide on this new agreement which proposes ” strong additional measures in favor of the recognition of the profession of skipper, the creation of positions, and the progression of their careers “Said the SNCF in a press release.
An unprecedented strike
SNCF, like the government, are overwhelmed by this movement because it is an unprecedented strike initiated by an informal collective on social networks, and not at the call of trade unions. And he annoys right up to the highest peak in the state. Emmanuel Macron therefore called on his ministers to act. The result is that the government spokesman announces that he is working on a ” framework to ensure the continuity of public services in the future.
► To listen: SNCF strike: “The management and the unions have been overwhelmed by the collective of controllers”
” Faced with a situation that is new, we need ways of thinking that are new. This strike, in fact, will see a few hundred people grouped together in an anonymous collective, not supported by national trade union centers. It invites us to think about the framework to ensure in all circumstances the continuity of access to public service in our country. “, Estimates Olivier Véran, spokesperson for the government.
We ask all those who have announced that they want to strike to give up.
Olivier Véran, government spokesperson
Reconciling two principles
The government does not say more for the moment but it will have to reconcile two principles: to ensure the continuity of the public service while at the same time guaranteeing the constitutional right to strike. For the professor at Sciences-Po, Guillaume Tusseau, the room for maneuver of the executive is very limited. ” Regarding transport, there are regulations that establish a minimum service, but in any event, the limitation of the right to strike cannot lead to a total abolition of the exercise of the right to strike. “, he explains.
Several ideas are therefore on the table. According to an adviser, the government could in particular encourage the SNCF to train executives to replace the strikers in the trains in the event of spontaneous movements as for this weekend of Christmas.
►Also read: Strike in the trains at Christmas: the government reprimands the strikers, the SNCF apologizes