Several strikes are announced in the transport sector this Tuesday, just over two months before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The railway workers in particular are seeking to put pressure on the management of the SNCF, on the eve of a conclusive meeting on bonuses allocated to agents mobilized during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Parisian airport agents are also called to go on strike this Tuesday to demand, among other things, hiring, the opening of negotiations for a salary increase as well as “homogeneous bonuses” for employees mobilized during the Games. Many disruptions are therefore to be expected.
The railway strike movement, initiated by Sud Rail and the CGT-Cheminots, joined in places by Unsa-Ferroviaire but also FO-Cheminots, promises to be particularly followed. Sud Rail regrets for the moment that only compensation of 50 euros gross per day worked during the competitions has been provided. At RATP, where negotiations have ended, agents mobilized between July 22 and September 8 will receive on average a bonus of 1,000 euros gross. As of Friday, Sud Rail warned that more than 90% of drivers intended to go on strike on certain lines, the day after Pentecost Monday. Due to the disruptions, SNCF recommends postponing travel or favoring teleworking.
“Very disrupted” traffic for commuter trains
In the Paris region, traffic will be “very significantly disrupted” for suburban and RER trains operated by SNCF, SNCF announced on Sunday.
The most affected lines will be the RER D and the Transilien line R, with only one train in five and only during peak hours (from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.). There will only be two trains out of five on the RER E, which will not run between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and will not serve many stations. The RER C will also be particularly disrupted with two trains out of five, only between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., depending on the branch. This means that there will be an average of one train every 15 to 30 minutes during rush hour and many stations will not be served either. On Transilien line V, there will be only one train per hour, during rush hour.
Elsewhere on the network, the RER A, the most used line with more than a million passengers per day, will be almost spared because it is operated by the RATP, with the exception of a branch going towards Poissy where there will be one train out of two. Same thing for the RER B where there will be one train out of two on the northern part (SNCF) and two out of three on the southern part (RATP). Finally, the other Transilien lines (suburban trains) will see one train in three run (H, J, L, N, U).
Minor disruptions in Paris airports
On the air traffic side, the mobilization, which concerns all staff, should be significant but without causing major disruptions in the two main French airport platforms, Charles-de-Gaulle and Orly, according to a union source interviewed by The Parisian. Reason for the disruption: “staffing remains very insufficient to cope with the increase in traffic and the constantly increasing quality of service requirements”, write in a press release the CGT, the CFDT, FO and the Unsa .
The Paris Airports (ADP) unions are therefore demanding an emergency hiring plan” as well as “the immediate opening of negotiations on scales with revaluation”. They are also demanding “a uniform bonus for all ADP agents (volunteers or not/operational or not) working from July 8 to September 15” for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. They are calling for a demonstration within the airport, Tuesday May 21, at terminal 2E.