The four representative unions of the group signed the agreement proposed Thursday evening by the management of the SNCF.
The four unions representing SNCF employees have signed the agreement aimed at improving the working conditions of the captains, who have been on strike since Thursday evening and until Monday morning. In return, no strike will disrupt the rail network on New Year’s weekend.This agreement, the result of several weeks of negotiations, is an act of strong measures for a real recognition of the profession of skipper and its specificities», Welcomes the management of the railway group in a press release.
«All the conditions are now met for all the captains to return to work“, added the railway group, which specifies however that this progress will not make it possible to improve the situation for Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 December: “The disturbances will remain unchanged for this weekend“, notes the SNCF, which hopes for a return to normal “in the next few days».
Read alsoSNCF: the mobilization of a collective of controllers, a sign of a “yellow vest” of social movements?
The agreement presented Thursday evening by the management to the main unions of the railway group contains measures “very strong“, hammered Friday morning the CEO of SNCF Voyageurs. Among them, the creation of a management of the skippers in order to guarantee “more listening» for the controllers, the increase of a specific bonus which would thus pass from 600 to 720 euros or even the creation of 200 additional jobs.
The government was quick to congratulate the signing of the agreement on “welcoming the spirit of responsibility that prevails this morning at the SNCF in anticipation of the New Year weekend“, according to Elisabeth Borne in a tweet. “I am delighted that the social dialogue between SNCF management and the unions has borne fruit. We had expressed the importance and imperative of this spirit of responsibility“, also expressed Clément Beaune on Twitter.
200% refund
Nearly half of the controllers declared themselves on strike this weekend, causing the cancellation of one train out of three on Friday, and two trains out of five on Saturday and Sunday, especially TGVs. Some axes will be more affected than others, such as the Atlantic axis or the North axis, with only one out of two TGVs. In an exceptional situation, exceptional measure: SNCF customers began to receive emails offering them a 200% refund in vouchers, whether they were able to travel or not.
The canceled or full trains have pushed many SNCF users to turn to coaches or carpooling. FlixBus told AFP that it would transport 115,000 passengers from Friday to Monday, 10 to 15% more than in 2019. And BlaBlaCar Bus said to double certain rotations for Thursday and Friday, between Paris and several cities including Nantes, Lyon or reindeer. Bison Futé warned that Friday could be a complicated day on the road in Ile-de-France, advising to leave the region before 10 a.m., with a peak of traffic jams expected between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Read alsoSNCF: how Italy made transport strikes impossible at Christmas
Other travelers have adapted their train travel days. “I decided to leave a day before, by taking leave, and also to postpone my return, by telecommuting“explains Xavier, who joins Bayonne from Paris. Air France, also affected by a call for a strike by two unions of hostesses and stewards until January 2, for its part indicated that it would operate all its flights on Friday and Saturday.
«We gave everything to avoid the strike“, underlined the CEO of SNCF Jean-Pierre Farandou Thursday morning, insisting on the mandatory annual negotiations which ratified in early December an average salary increase of nearly 6% in 2023 for railway workers, according to him. “And for the TGV captains, we even added 1.5 more pointshe pointed out. We have provided employment, we have guaranteed that there will be two skippers per TGV and we have made career development commitments».
SEE ALSO – Strike at the SNCF: “We put everything on the table“to obtain an agreement, assures Christophe Fanichet