The boss of the railway group evokes the risk of a new period of strike at the end of the end of year celebrations.
The pension reform could cause “quite a strong reaction” of the railway workers, fears the CEO of the SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, who wants “get through as little harm as possible» a probable new period of strike. “We can expect a fairly strong reaction around these subjects, which will disrupt the company“, He said in his wishes to railway workers posted online on Wednesday, when the previous attempt at reform had caused a month and a half of strike, in December 2019 and January 2020, and cost nearly a billion euros to the ‘company.
«We will have a thought for our customers” especially “those who need the train to go to workhe says. “We will have to try to get through this difficult period as little as possible.“, continues Jean-Pierre Farandou, a week before the announcement of the government plan to reform pensions.
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The year 2022 was marked by the return of attendance, also welcomes the boss of the SNCF. “On the other hand, the production apparatus was put under tension, the personnel, the rolling stock, all of this was very tense and we could have here and there some small problems of quality of service. So we have to be vigilant“, he notes. Railway workers have been increased by an average of 6% and should be increased by the same amount in 2023. “It is again 6%, which, incidentally, is 12% in two years. There are not many companies that have increased their staff by an average of 12% in two yearsremarks Jean-Pierre Farandou.
If he does not confirm the figure of 2.2 billion euros in net profit for 2022 mentioned in the press, Jean-Pierre Farandou concedes that “it is likely that (the public group) left to have a good year». «You have to rejoicehe says. “A company that earns a little money is a company that can invest for its future, in TGV trains, in workshops, in stations, in infrastructure, in information systems. So it’s good news that the SNCF is making some money.»