Dor several weeks, the government has multiplied announcements favorable to the transport sector. The objective is twofold: encourage motorists to switch to rail to reduce CO emissions2but also to defuse the reasons that could push railway workers and RATP agents to become the spearhead of the fight against pension reform, by blocking the country.
These efforts have obviously not convinced. As proof, all the SNCF unions are calling for a renewable strike from Tuesday March 7. Between Friday February 24 and Monday February 27, the members of the CFDT Cheminots voted 80% in favor of a hardening of the movement. At the UNSA Ferroviaire, the second union of the SNCF, usually moderate, the general secretary Didier Mathis threatens of “carry out ten days of strike in a row and block Paris for at least two weekends”. A very harsh tone, even though the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, has just announced her “new railway deal”with financing of 100 billion euros at stake.
One hundred billion by 2040 is nevertheless a shock promise, which responds almost to the nearest euro to the request made by Jean-Pierre Farandou, the CEO of the SNCF, in the summer of 2022. He had demanded this sum, spread over fifteen years, to modernize the railway infrastructure and double the share of the train in our journeys. “A battle won”, welcomed the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, at the time of the announcement, obtained against and against the Ministry of Finance. Bercy believes that the State has already done enough by taking over 35 billion euros in debt from the SNCF two years ago so as not to have to hand over the wallet.
Other positive messages have been sent to railway workers: not one euro of their company’s record profits (2.4 billion euros for 2022) will go to its shareholder, the State. Everything will be reinvested, and not just the 60% automatically earmarked for the renovation of the rail. Mr. Beaune also found 5 million euros to secure 130 sensitive network sites in Ile-de-France.
Massive recruitment plans
The RATP has not been forgotten. In December 2022, the Minister granted a budget extension of 200 million euros to Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), the authority which finances transport in Ile-de-France. This sum enabled Jean Castex, the CEO of the RATP, to propose an increase in the salary envelope of 5.7%, ensuring a monthly increase of 105 euros net to all agents.
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