Faced with the debacle that reigns on the rail network this Christmas weekend, the SNCF has made new proposals to the unions of controllers. The latter finally signed an agreement, announced the SNCF around 11 a.m. on December 23. This is the end of the suspense concerning the fate of the New Year, for which a strike notice had also been filed. The latter has just been lifted.
During a meeting with the unions on the evening of Thursday 22 December, the management of the SNCF group proposed “strong additional measures in favor of the recognition of the profession of skipper, the creation of positions, and the progression of their careers,” she said in a statement. These new proposals finally convinced the CGT-Cheminots and SUD-Rail federations, which led the negotiations on the controller side.
The signing of this agreement marks the end of an atypical strike: it is led by an informal collective of skippers organized on a Facebook group of around 3,500 members, who reject any union membership. The unions had filed notices for the collective, but did not themselves call for a strike. A situation that made both the management of the SNCF and the union representatives uncomfortable, and made the negotiations particularly complex.
Additional measures conceded under pressure
Among the new proposals, 160 additional jobs should be created from 2023, and 40 more jobs “in sensitive trains”. The specific bonus for controllers would increase from 600 to 720 euros gross annually. The management also proposes the creation of an “ASCT business line” (board manager), which brings together all the controllers under the same hat, a union source told AFP.
The government had put pressure on the SNCF on Thursday, encouraging it to end this strike which penalizes many French people. Olivier Véran had also asked the strikers “to hear the legitimate request of the French to be able to find their family in good conditions”. In a tweet, Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne also praised “the spirit of responsibility that prevails this morning at the sncf in anticipation of the New Year weekend”. “Social dialogue always makes it possible to find the best path for employees and companies,” she added.
“We gave everything to avoid the strike,” said SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou on Thursday morning, a few hours before the new proposals. He insisted on the mandatory annual negotiations which, according to him, ratified an average salary increase of nearly 6% in 2023 for railway workers at the beginning of December. “And for the TGV skippers, we even added 1.5 more points, he assured. We put jobs, we gave the guarantee that there are two skippers per TGV and we have made career development commitments”.
The trains should thus bring travelers to their destination on New Year’s weekend, but two out of five trains have still been canceled this Christmas weekend, despite the fact that a hearing has now been found. More than 200,000 travelers are affected by cancellations and must find an alternative to join their families.