STRIKE RATP. After the black day of Friday February 18 in the transport of the Parisian rail network, the RATP unions are considering a new strike at the start of the February school holidays in zone C.
[Mis à jour le 21 février 2022 à 12h15] After the black day of February 18 in Parisian transport, with 80% of RATP drivers on strike to demand a salary increase, a union meeting is planned this week to consider a new strike in March, possibly long-term. . “If we have to leave in a movement, it will be unlimited. Punctual and pearly movements have little impact”, estimated Bastien Berthier, metro driver and member of the FO-RATP union, with BFM TV.
Users “have already experienced the health crisis, the disruptions that there are every day in transport. A renewed strike movement would be badly experienced”, for his part reacted Marc Pélissier, president of the National Federation of Associations of transport users, with BFM TV. But the anger of RATP agents has not subsided since RATP management closed annual salary negotiations.
“Discussions are at a standstill. The management is irresponsible,” lamented the unions on Friday February 18 after discussions with the management of the RATP. “Social dialogue comes down to a dialogue between employers. (…) We do not forbid ourselves anything and the start of the school year could be hot”, declared Laurent Djebali, of Force Ouvrière, denouncing a “simulacrum of discussion”. When could the strike take place? Between Saturday March 5th or Monday March 7th? No precise date has yet been put forward, even if the “back to school” for the February holidays for Parisians has therefore been mentioned.
Why could the RATP strike again in March?
Almost all of the RATP trade unions (CGT, Unsa, FO and CFE-CGC, Solidaires and La Base) called for a one-day strike on Friday February 18 to demand a salary increase following a disagreement with management in the framework of the mandatory annual negotiations (NAO). The date of February 18 was not chosen at random, it corresponded to the first day of the annual salary negotiations within the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens.
The trade unions disputed, in view of inflation, a proposal for a salary increase from the management which was much too low, amounting to 0.4%. Ia CGT demanded a 3% increase per year over the next 3 years. “The purchasing power of employees has melted in 10 years” protested Arole Lamasse, secretary general of UNSA-RATP, to Le Figaro. “Now we see young recruits leaving after three months because they will earn more at McDonald’s”… For its part, the management of the RATP specified that the annual negotiations were “finished”.
Friday, February 18, the representative of the SUD Rail union Fabien Villedieu declared at the microphone of RMC that the strikes would stop “from the moment we listen to the employees”. “There is a cold anger rising”, he added about “all the employees who were called second line employees, who were applauded a little in 2020, who were almost considered like heroes and who today feel like zeros”.
RATP strike: where to consult real-time traffic forecasts?
Several tools are available on the Web to find out about upcoming traffic disruptions. To know the state of RATP traffic (metro, RER, bus, tram in real time), consult this page. For the RER, you can also follow the Twitter accounts @RERA, @RERB, @RERC, @RERD Where @RERE. To monitor train traffic in real time, visit the Transilien.