Will there be trains at Christmas? The more the date of the school holidays approaches, the more the concern of the passengers who have acclaimed the SNCF and rushed on the tickets as soon as the sales open is exacerbated. Should holidaymakers believe the reassuring words of the government? The delegate minister in charge of transport, Clément Beaune, said to himself, Tuesday, December 13, “fairly confident that there would be no major disruptions” on the rail network at Christmas. ” Enough “, but not totally. It does not exclude difficulties on “certain TGV lines” and precise ” working hard “ for the “to minimize”.
The executive sends signs of appeasement. The postponement of the presentation of the pension reform to January 11, 2023 is one of them. Just like the subsidy of 300 million euros promised by the State to the regions and to Ile-de-France Mobilités: this will allow the organizing authorities here and there to grant a little leeway to public transport companies on salary negotiations. . Claims – and understaffing – are indeed fueling strike movements all over France: in Dijon, Bordeaux, Toulon, Le Mans, Brest or in the Paris region at the RATP, in railway maintenance workshops .
The direction of the SNCF, it is very discreet, begging for time before giving indications on the future circulation of the trains. Because it leads in parallel three negotiations under tension. The first discussion concerns the entire company: it is the annual salary negotiation. The management has issued a proposal that the trade unions say they find insufficient, but which they do not reject.
The overall envelope would increase by 5.9% through the interplay of general and individual measures. The general increase in wages is limited to 2%, but each employee would be awarded a permanent bonus of 600 euros per year. Individual increases of around 2% in the payroll are also planned as well as a 4% increase in night, Sunday and public holiday allowances and 40% for the residence allowance where rents are high. (Ile-de-France, Alpes-Maritimes, Savoie, Haute-Savoie).
“Real progress”
There is little chance that this agreement will be validated by a union majority, since the federal office of the UNSA, the second organization of the SNCF, has decided not to ratify it. It is considered insufficient in the inflationary context and the UNSA, well represented among executives, would have preferred a higher general salary increase rather than a lump sum bonus. The CGT too. However, no union is calling a strike to reject the management’s proposal. The agreement, open for signature until Thursday, December 15, will be applied with or without initials, according to the HRD. It is therefore not he who will lead to the blocking of the trains.
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