If you can, get the bikes out or be prepared to walk. Otherwise, “Libé” takes stock of the strike action planned for this Friday at the RATP, from the early hours of the day. The lines of the Parisian network will be differently affected by the dispute, according to the traffic forecasts of the transport authority.
The Subway
The passage of the oars should suffer only slight disturbances. Nine out of ten trains will run on lines 2, 7, 9, 13. It will be eight out of ten trains for line 8. Traffic will be normal on the rest of the lines.
The RER
RER A and B will also run normally.
The bus
On the other hand, the impact promises to be much stronger on the bus network. About 30% of the lines will be interrupted, while only one out of two buses will be in service on the rest of the network, “with variations depending on the sector”specifies the RATP this Thursday evening.
The tram
A tram line will be completely closed: that of the T8, linking Saint-Denis to the station of Villetaneuse-Université and Épinay-Orgemont. One in three trains will run on T2, one in two on T1, T5, T6 and T7 (some only in the morning or at peak times), and two in three on T3a and T3b.
[Mouvement Social] ⚠️ The #RATP foresees normal traffic on the RER network and almost normal on the Metro. Traffic will be severely disrupted on the surface network (Bus and Tramway). We apologize for the expected conditions of carriage. More info ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/J3L1gcRw6g
— RATP Group (@RATPgroup) March 23, 2022
To deal with these difficulties, Île-de-France Mobilités, which manages transport in the Paris region, offers free carpooling to Ile-de-France residents and doubles the subsidy granted to drivers.
The disruptions will, however, be less significant than during the first day of the strike on February 18, which saw almost all metro lines close or operate only during rush hour. The strike movement, which initially focused on wages, came on top of another day of protest against adaptation to opening up to competition.
The management is currently negotiating with the unions an agreement on the working time of the 15,000 Parisian bus drivers and 1,000 tram drivers to integrate into the “territorial social framework” (CST) which will impose the same rules of organization and working hours on all companies from 1 January 2025, the date of the end of the RATP monopoly on the surface network. “The CST is an intermediary between what is provided for in the collective agreement for urban transport and the current provisions governing the working time of RATP staff”said Jean Annulons, HRD of the group.
The purpose of negotiations is “to get as close as possible, without reaching it” working conditions provided for by the CST. Forty meetings have already taken place “and they must reach an agreement in April”, explained the HRD. The latter should come into force on July 1 in order to allow the RATP to be in working order to win calls for tenders via its subsidiary CAP Ile-de-France on the twelve lots of the Paris bus market and its inner suburbs.
“The company is laughing at us”
For the moment, the management proposes to extend the working time by 40 minutes per day, the elimination of six days off per year, all offset by a salary increase of around 70 euros per month, according to the unions. “This figure is very far from the last figure communicated to the trade unions”reacted Jean Annulons, without specifying the amount advanced by management. “The company is making fun of us”insists Arole Lamasse, general secretary of Unsa-RATP for whom “the working conditions of machinists will be disrupted” and the compensations are not enough. The CGT continues to ask for the suspension of the process and the “maintenance of a public monopoly”.
The unions are also asking for the unfreezing of the value of the point (frozen since 2012) as civil servants will be entitled to it. But the CEO of the public group Catherine Guillouard recalled it at the beginning of March: “for us, (the wage negotiations) are over”.