The management of the SNCF and the unions may have signed an agreement to avoid interruptions in the New Year, the number of trains withdrawn for the Christmas weekend will not change. For this weekend, a thousand captains (official name of the controllers) have gone on strike. One in three trains was canceled on Friday and two in five on Saturday and Sunday, affecting 200,000 passengers.
No union called a strike, but three of them – CGT-Cheminots, SUD-Rail and CFDT-Cheminots – had filed and maintained a notice allowing controllers who so desired to go on strike. In fact, the movement was led by a collective of controllers formed at Facebook in September.
Transportation plans “should not evolve”
To go on strike in the public sector, notice from a union is essential, submitted at least five business days in advance. At the SNCF, employees in the categories of agents essential to guarantee a certain level of service are obliged to inform their employer of their intention to participate in the strike no later than 48 hours before taking part.
Users have the right to “clear, reliable and free” information on the services actually provided, no later than 24 hours before the start of the riots, according to the government website vie-publique.fr.
The return to circulation of a train “cannot be done in a snap of the fingers”
Even if a controller decides to retract, the return to circulation of a train “cannot be done in a snap of the fingers,” adds the SNCF. In addition to the procedures, the provision of staff and the train, there is the sale of tickets. For example, a train was specially chartered so that 450 children could travel despite the strike. Your programming was done three days ago.
The SNCF welcomes “mobilizations of voluntary railway workers, who did not necessarily plan to work, to allow the greater circulation of trains and French”.
Following the agreement with management, the unions lifted the notices for New Year’s weekend on Friday morning, ending the dispute.
Source: BFM TV
