It’s a dark day ahead in Paris in transport. Almost no metro will run this Thursday due to a strike called by all RATP unions. Other sectors, invited to stop work by the CGT alone, should on the other hand experience a more modest mobilization.
Only fully automated lines 1 and 14 will run normally, but with a “risk of saturation”. Five lines will be completely closed (2, 8, 10, 11 and 12), the others only running at peak times, with a severely degraded service. The situation will not be better on the RER A where one in three trains will run on average. On the RER B, the frequency will be every other train.
Normal traffic for TGVs
At the SNCF on the other hand, the movement supported by the only CGT-Cheminots promises to be much less followed. Traffic will be normal on the TGVs and slightly disrupted on the Intercités. On the TER lines, nine out of ten trains will run on average and, in Ile-de-France, some disruptions are to be expected on certain Transilien lines.
All the unions (CGT, FO, Unsa, Solidaires) of the RATP have long called for mobilization to demand wage increases and improved working conditions. The RATP, like other companies in the transport sector, suffers from chronic understaffing due to recruitment difficulties and is experiencing an explosion in absenteeism, particularly on its bus network. Another reason for mobilization: the future pension reform.
It is a question of “showing that if we want to mobilize, we know how to mobilize”, said Frédéric Souillot, secretary general of FO, on Wednesday. He must go to the side of the RATP strikers at 09:30. FO, the second union of the board, is the majority among metro drivers.
A demonstration without FO
On the other hand, he will not participate in the demonstration which will start at the beginning of the afternoon of République, direction Opéra, which is part of a day of national and interprofessional mobilization at the call of the only CGT decided recently . FO, which was associated with the mobilization day of October 18, chose this time not to be with the CGT, as well as FSU and Solidaires.
On Wednesday, Frédéric Souillot also castigated the multiplication of “leapfrog” demonstration days, believing that this strategy “not only is it counterproductive, secondly it does little to move things, thirdly it wears out the troops”. Questioned on Monday, the confederal secretary of the CGT Céline Verzeletti was on the other hand confident, saying to expect “150 to 200” places of demonstration and a mobilization at least equivalent to that of October 18. There were then 107,000 demonstrators according to the police (300,000 according to the union). Authorities bet them on 40 to 50,000 protesters nationwide.