Rail strike in France – probably with consequences for Germany

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SNCF train in Paris-Montparnasse: In France, the train attendants want to strike

Photo: Michel Euler / dpa / AP

A rail strike in France threatens to disrupt train traffic in Germany this weekend. French trade unionist Fabien Villedieu from Sud-Rail told broadcaster RTL that, given the results of a meeting with the management of the railway company SNCF, he did not see how the conflict could be prevented. The offers are very far from the demands.

According to French media reports, in addition to the Sud-Rail union, the CGT union also stuck to its strike notice for train attendants for the weekend. In large parts of France, the weekend falls at the beginning or middle of the winter holidays.

The conductors are demanding a wage increase. The strike could be prevented with a monthly gross increase of 150 to 200 euros, but that was not what the management wanted, unionist Villedieu told the broadcaster BFMTV.

Further negotiations in Germany

SNCF boss Jean-Pierre Farandou replied on RTL that salaries had already been raised significantly in recent years. He also announced bonuses and steps for all railway workers, from which the conductors also benefited.

The SNCF has not yet announced how many trains will run at the weekend. This should still be announced, said SNCF boss Farandou. Among other things, his priority is to ensure that trains go to all cities. Deutsche Bahn has already announced that several TGV services between Paris and Frankfurt, Munich or Stuttgart would be canceled on Friday.

The collective bargaining conflict has not yet been resolved at Deutsche Bahn either. The company is continuing to negotiate a deal with the train drivers; the goal was most recently to reach a collective bargaining agreement at the beginning of March. After several strikes at Deutsche Bahn, some of which lasted several days, a peace obligation currently applies until March 3rd. The strikes had sparked a debate about possible restrictions on the right to strike.

Recently, models for reducing working hours have been particularly controversial. The railway had also agreed to talk about a fixed fee increase. Until now, the federally owned company had always spoken out in favor of percentage increases. Fixed amounts generally help lower income groups in particular and are therefore often preferred by unions to negotiate.

apr/dpa