Travelers can be reassured: the SNCF unions announced on Tuesday July 12 that no strike notice would be filed during the summer, allowing this season, which is already the subject of record bookings, to take place normally.
The unions, which have been demanding wage increases for several weeks due to inflation, do not stop negotiations with management, since they are expected to return to the negotiating table on September 1.
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At the beginning of July, the railway workers had no hesitation in resorting to a strike to put pressure on the management of the railway company.
Thus, last Wednesday, traffic was severely disrupted by a national strike.
All lines operated by the group were then concerned, including local routes.
Faced with significant traffic difficulties, the rail group had recommended to travelers “
to cancel or postpone their trips
”.
In total, the management noted a strike movement “
more important
” than those of the last months, with 20% of strikers at the national level, but 35 to 40% among the drivers.
First commitments
In the process, the management of the SNCF had granted an increase to its employees.
In particular, it had decided to put in place a general salary increase of 1.4% and a 4% increase in production-related allowances (night hours, Sundays, holidays, on-call duty).
In total, the increase will be 3.7% for low salaries and 2.2% for executives.
The SNCF has also "
undertaken
" to open annual negotiations on wages from December.
"
It is an effort on the employees on the front line, with the allowances linked to the production
", and with "
a calendar which opens up prospects for the future
", had then pleaded François Nogué, the director of human resources of the operator.
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However, the main unions continue to find the proposed measures insufficient.
For the CGT, the first union of the group, “
these measures remain very insufficient, but it is the mobilization of the railway workers which allows this wage thaw and to tear off these first measures
”.
Unsa, the company's second union, for its part welcomed "
encouraging measures
", which will have to be reviewed at the end of the year, as its secretary general Didier Mathis told AFP.