SNCF STRIKE. The main SNCF unions are calling for strike days against the pension reform on Tuesday February 7 and Wednesday February 8, but do not formally call for a strike on Saturday February 11.
[Mis à jour le 2 février 2023 à 16h35] The eight confederations of the French inter-union (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, Unsa, Solidaires and FSU) called for two new days of action against the pension reform, Tuesday February 7 and Saturday February 11, two dates that fall during the February holidays. If the CGT-Cheminots and SUD-Rail unions of the SNCF join the interprofessional mobilization of Tuesday February 7 which falls the day after the presentation of the pension reform to the National Assembly, opinions differ for the day of Saturday 11 February, day of departure or return of february holidays.
On the one hand, only the CGT Cheminots and SUD-Rail wish to continue the movement the next day, on Wednesday February 8, on the other, the secretary general of Unsa Ferroviaire “calls for mobilization, not strike”, on Saturday February 11, while the CGT-Cheminots called the agents, “a priori in a unitary way to demonstrate on the 11th”, according to the words of the spokesperson for the first SNCF union. “The unanimity is very strong in the rejection of the reform, even if there can be differences on the methods of action”, recognizes Sébastien Mariani, deputy general secretary of the CFDT-Cheminots.
The traffic forecasts for the day of the strike on February 7 on the SNCF train network (TGV, Intercités, TER, Transiliens and RER) have not yet been announced but will be announced no later than Sunday evening, the strikers having the obligation to declare 48 hours before the start of the movement.
It should be noted that for the day of February 7, the agents of the RATP will also be on strike, which means that the Parisians will have to organize themselves accordingly, just like the tourists passing through the capital!
The CGT-Cheminots and SUD-Rail maintain their call for a strike the day after February 7, i.e. Wednesday February 8, without being followed by Unsa Ferroviaire and CFDT-Cheminots, who are sticking to the call of the eight main French trade unions. For the time being, the forecasts have not been announced, but will be by Monday evening at the latest.
The two dates of February 7 and 8, 2023 fall during the school holidays for zone A which start this Saturday February 4 and just before the February holiday departures for zone B which start on Saturday February 11!
If the date of February 7 decided by the inter-union is consensus among the unions of the SNCF, that of February 11, the fourth major day of action against the pension reform, is debated. The UNSA Ferroviaire union would like a simple “call for mobilization” on Saturday February 11, to avoid criticism of this symbolic date for departures on winter vacation for zone B (Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Caen, Lille, Nancy- Metz, Nantes, Nice, Orléans-Tours, Reims, Rennes, Rouen and Strasbourg). An opinion shared by SUD Rail: “We debated the possibility of not having a call for a strike on this day and of having a simple call for demonstrations”, announced the federal secretary of the union Erik Meyer at the France Media Agency. “We don’t want to block the holiday crossover,” he added.
The position of the unions on this key date will be clarified “by the end of the week or the beginning of next week”, according to him. The unions have also proposed a renewable strike “from mid-February“to the SNCF in the event that the government persists in its pension reform project.
Travelers on canceled TGV and Intercités trains receive the information via e-mail or SMS between 24 and 48 hours in advance (provided they have provided their contact details when booking). On the other hand, users of TER without a connection do not receive SMS. It is advisable to verify the information by informing its train number the day before and just before departure on the SNCF site.
To follow the traffic of main line trains (TGV, Intercités) in real time, consult the traffic forecasts on the site sncf.com. On mobile, it is also very practical to go to the Twitter account @SNCF_infopresse, and @SNCF. For the TER, go to this specific page ter.sncf.com which allows you to navigate by region. For the RER, you can follow the Twitter accounts @RERA, @RERB or this page dedicated to RER C. For the Transilien or RER network in general, simply go to the dedicated platform to check if his journey is provided by the SNCF.