SNCF STRIKE. After the November ultimatum, the inter-union threatens to carry out a renewable strike every 24 hours from December 11, 2024 to protest against the dismantling of SNCF Freight.
The threat of a renewable strike on SNCF trains from next Wednesday, December 11 is receding. Thursday, November 21, the strike movement presented as an “ultimatum” before this date, if no response was provided to the demands of the inter-union, was little followed. According to the CGT union, only one in four railway workers was on strike that day. A figure which distances itself from the level of mobilization of strikes in recent years. The disruptions on the rails were in fact concentrated only on regional trains, with one Intercités out of two in circulation, 7 TER out of 10 on average nationally and disruptions on the RER (D in particular) and Transiliens of Île-de-France.
“The French don’t want this strike at Christmas, we understand them, and above all there are no reasons,” declared Jean-Pierre Farandou, CEO of SNCF, on RTL. The CGT-Cheminots, Unsa-Ferroviaire, Sud-Rail and the CFDT-Cheminots called for a major movement in response to the confirmation of the dismantling of Fret SNCF on January 1 and to denounce the opening to competition. “I am quite doubtful about this social movement, especially since there are no other possible hypotheses” than this dismantling, announced the Minister for Transport François Durovray.
If the unions denounce privatization and demand a moratorium, the management of the railway company contests the request since the railway group will retain the majority of the capital. “It’s a privatization process in the broad sense,” explained Thierry Nier, general secretary of the CGT-Cheminots. “The same process applied to Freight will apply to travelers tomorrow with the establishment of subsidiaries which reveals the same logic: lowering costs, social dumping and deterioration of working conditions.” If it does not obtain a halt to this process of subsidiaryization, the inter-union demands guarantees in the organization of the work of railway workers transferred to the subsidiaries or competitors having won the market.
For its part, SNCF management assured that work to bring this development to fruition began many years ago and that social negotiations have already made good progress. “The French would not understand a long and hard strike in December,” said SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou on Sunday in an interview with La Tribune Dimanche. The inter-union met on the evening of Thursday, November 21 to discuss the continuation of the movement. You will be the first to know on this page.