The SNCF gets impatient and issues an ultimatum. The collective of controllers (supported by the unions) that threatens to go on strike at Christmas and New Year has until noon on Monday to give a response to the management’s proposals, said SNCF Voyageurs on Friday, questioned by AFP.
“Some unions have asked for a postponement of the decision deadline,” when theoretically they were supposed to respond on Thursday night, said SNCF Voyageurs, which looks after employees working on SNCF trains.
“Our wish (is) to leave all the possibilities to the lifting of the notices,” added the company to justify the additional time granted.
Announcements for January 23-26 and January 30-2
Still, 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 feedback from last week’s negotiations was quite positive. “We are really not far from an agreement” despite “some obstacles,” Nicolás Limón, one of the founders, told AFP. of the collective at the origin of a very followed strike at the beginning of December and organized outside the unions.
The SNCF proposed to increase the work bonus for controllers by 600 euros per year, part of which would be integrated into the salary in 2024, as well as an additional allowance of 600 euros gross per year. Other specific promotion measures have been put on the table to facilitate the professional development of employers.
“Anger has been on the rise since 2007”
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.
“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 consider 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.
For SNCF, however, reaching an agreement is crucial. A train cannot run without a driver. The last strike initiated by the ASCT collective led to the cancellation of 6 TGV out of 10.
Source: BFM TV
