RATP, the authority which operates part of the public transport in Paris and its suburbs, announced on Wednesday that it had signed an agreement with three unions (FO, Unsa and CFE-CGC) and without the CGT-RATP “to improve the quality of life at work” and experiment with the four-day week. The objective, among other things, is to retain the loyalty of Régie staff, faced with an increase in resignations.
Only certain agents concerned
The four-day week experiment began on January 18 and concerns lines 5, 7 and 9 of the metro and RER B, without reduction in working time. It concerns “station and station agents, managers as well as Territorial Control teams (MDT)”, says the RATP, but not drivers, and provides for “better adaptation of shifts to the constraints and needs of employees “, precise the press release broadcast Wednesday.
For the moment, 170 agents have volunteered to test the system for three cycles of 42 days, possibly renewable on a voluntary basis and “until October 2024”, reports RATP. This experiment will give rise to feedback to decide whether or not to expand it, which could concern up to 5,000 agents.
A different organization depending on the profession
The system provides for a weekly organization for managers and controllers with four days worked and three days off, with an increase in daily working time of one hour and fifteen minutes.
For station and station agents, the new work organization offers a cycle of four days followed by two days of rest, with no increase in daily working time, “compared to 6 or 5 consecutive days worked currently”.
According to RATP, “several departments of the company are interested” in the experiment, including the legal department.
Other measures to improve attractiveness
The agreement includes other measures to promote “loyalty and attractiveness of the company”, according to RATP, which is facing staffing problems affecting bus and metro services.
Among them, the establishment of a route to facilitate access to housing for employees and an “increase in the number of places in crèches reserved for employees in partner crèches”, or even the investment in 140 exoskeletons to equip twelve of its workshops and assist employees occupying the most difficult positions with maintenance.
“The negotiation was long and demanding, we have been on these issues for more than a year, so we are very satisfied to have been able to conclude this agreement,” welcomed Jean Agulhon, director of human resources for the group. Only the CGT-RATP (the group’s first union) refused to sign. “This agreement is a compilation of mandatory regulatory texts, from which management cannot escape. The rest is a cartload of declarations of intent without obligation to preserve employees and their quality of life,” reacted the union in a press release.