SUD-Rail, CGT-Cheminots and CFDT-Cheminots, three of the four representative unions of the SNCF, are calling for a strike on Wednesday July 6, the eve of the summer holidays, to demand wage increases in the face of rising inflation. fly away. The UNSA-ferroviaire, which for the moment has not joined the call to strike, will give its answer as to its participation on June 28.
“The context of concern and anger is there,” says Fabien Dumas, federal secretary of SUD-Rail. “Between the opening to competition and eight years of salary freeze, everyone is wondering how it will be eaten,” he adds. According to the unions, wages at SNCF have not been increased since 2014.
Inflation, which accelerated in May to 5.2% over one year and affects many expenditure items (energy, transport, food), hits “railway workers hard”, who “suffer a clear and strong decline in their power purchase,” the unions wrote in a statement. Inflation should continue to accelerate, reaching 6.8% over one year in September in France, then remaining at this rate during the last months of the year, INSEE estimated on Friday, an outbreak that will weigh on economy, with growth expected at 2.3% in 2022.
On June 16, they had made a “request for immediate consultation” on the question of salaries to the president of the SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, which remained unanswered. “The management refused to receive the trade union organizations (…), referring the exchanges to ongoing bilateral meetings”, deplores the press release.
Meeting scheduled for July 6
The management has nevertheless planned a round table with the social partners on July 6, the day that the unions have chosen to organize this strike, and also the day before the start of the summer holidays. SNCF, which is preparing for a record summer, with eight million tickets already sold, or “10% more than in 2019”, declined to comment.
Faced with criticism of an insufficient supply from the SNCF, with many trains already full, CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou assured Thursday on France 2 to be “on the block”. “We add oars, we make double compositions with two oars at the same time”, he detailed, welcoming the mobilization of the railway workers.
Thursday, Le Parisien revealed that a dozen trains on the Southeast axis had to be canceled this week due to maintenance problems blocking trains at the workshop. A failure linked to the lack of technicians, accused SUD-Rail.
Nothing to do, replies the SNCF, which attributes the problem to a personal accident on Sunday afternoon. It “had a big impact on the Gare de Lyon, with a lot of delays”, which led to “shifting the entire maintenance cycle”, therefore canceling certain trains, a doorman told Agence France-Presse on Friday. -word.
However, the unions are worried about the pace that is required of them for this summer. “We are told to make more trains, but the means must still be put in place,” worries Thomas Cavel, general secretary of the CFDT-Cheminots. “We have a business that is going well, but what is the part of redistribution in all this? “, he asks.
The railway workers are asking for “measures to catch up with salary inflation”, but also “a general increase in salaries and the revaluation of bonuses”, or even “a revaluation of all allowances, gratuities and allowances”.
The UNSA-ferroviaire, which has not joined the strike call for the moment, will give its answer as to its participation on June 28.
Various strike movements are currently agitating the SNCF, particularly in Île-de-France. Traffic is disrupted by works, causing last-minute changes in drivers’ schedules, which the unions denounce. Asked about these movements, Mr. Farandou acknowledged a “difficult period”, particularly in the Paris region, for users and drivers, and indicated that discussions with the social partners were “engaged”, with “all the options” on the table.
