While the first train departures for the Christmas holidays take place this Friday, the specter of the strike still looms over the side of the controllers (desk managers) of the SNCF. Tension is rising in the direction of the SNCF as the government promises that everything will be fine and that the holidays of the French will not be ruined.
However, the intense negotiations taking place this week have so far come to naught. And the SNCF is immersed in expectation. In a press release released last night, the operator is impatient: “As part of the negotiations started several weeks ago on the captains, the management is awaiting the position of the unions.”
As a result, the group canceled its traditional press conference organized on days of big outings. Proof that nothing is certain.
Prior notice for the two weekends of departure
The threat of a strike still looms. Please note that notices were filed from Friday, December 23, to Monday, December 26, 2023 at 8 a.m., and from Friday, December 30, to Monday, January 2, 2023, at 8 a.m.
However, the first comments were quite positive. “We are really not far from an agreement” despite “some obstacles,” Nicolás Limón, one of the founders, told AFP last week. of the collective at the origin of a very followed strike at the beginning of December and organized outside the unions.
But obviously, the discussions failed on several points. According to our information, the controllers denounce a management that does not listen to them. A vote took place on Wednesday, the result between the strike and the lifting of the notice would have been very close and would not have led to a consensus. Hence the lack of response from the unions until Friday morning.
“Actual mistreatment by management”
Remember that the demands of the controllers are multiple and not only salary. “The anger has been growing since 2007 actually with the deterioration of our working conditions, the question of promotion, the increase in the difficulty of the controller’s work and more and more responsibilities. In fact, the non-recognition of the difficulties of our We I believe that there is a real mistreatment by the management and a real lack of social dialogue”, explained one of the members of the ASCT collective, a collective that weighs heavily in the negotiations.
“But for a few months, discontent has broken out. However, despite our constant feedback to managers, we have gotten absolutely no response,” the employee continues.
Thus, he stresses that the collective presents five lawsuits, of which only one is related to remuneration. “There are things like professional development, career paths or work organization, particularly issues related to overly severe medical exams that lock controllers in the station, that don’t cost anything.”
For SNCF, however, reaching an agreement is crucial. A continued strike could jeopardize departures: a train cannot run without a captain. The last strike started by the ASCT collective led to the cancellation of 6 of the 10 TGVs.
Source: BFM TV
