Rise in absenteeism, recruitment difficulties, openness to competition: in a letter sent Thursday to Valérie Pécresse, the CEO of the RATP Catherine Guillouard wanted to respond to the criticisms of the president of the Île-de-France region, exasperated by the shortcomings of the Parisian bus network.
The boss of the RATP, who is about to step down on Friday for personal reasons, first wanted to recall that if the subject was a major annoyance for travelers, it "
does not affect the finances of Île -de-France Mobilités (IDFM), the offer not carried out being fully reimbursed and increased by penalties
”, in a letter consulted by AFP.
Last Thursday, Valérie Pécresse, who chairs the organizing authority IDFM, had summoned the RATP to quickly present "
an action plan
" for a rapid return to normal.
17% of the offer not realized
The president of the company recognizes that “
in September, the situation reached a particularly critical level with 25% of the offer not realized
”.
On average over the year 2022, this figure stands at 17% according to the RATP “
including around 10% from internal causes, 5% from external causes (traffic difficulties, works) and 2% from social causes
”.
Catherine Guillouard underlines in particular “
the very significant increase in the level of sickness absenteeism
”, the number of days off having doubled compared to before the Covid-19 crisis.
It thus says that it has reinforced controls in recent months, having made it possible to detect “
nearly 500 fraudulent work stoppages concerning more than 130 employees, who are the subject of dismissal procedures
”.
Catherine Guillouard then dwells on the recruitment difficulties faced by the RATP, which was still looking for 800 bus drivers at the end of August.
The public group will open its recruitment to temporary workers.
Finally, Catherine Guillouard concludes with a warning at the approach of the opening to competition which must intervene for the buses of the current RATP monopoly on January 1, 2025 and will cause the transfer of 18,000 employees to subsidiaries or competitors.
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The unilateral revision of the working hours of machinists to adapt to the new reality of competition, after the failure of negotiations with the unions, did not make it possible to obtain the expected productivity gains.
But above all, "
the good continuity of the public bus service
" will depend on IDFM's ability to ensure the recovery of certain systems such as passenger information, ticketing or security systems which "
cannot be physically split up and operated by the operators within the time allowed
”.
Catherine Guillouard notably indicated in her letter that the RATP did not wish to carry out these missions after 2024, as IDFM would like.