- Mediapart has revealed the existence of an illegal file which lists bus drivers according to illegal criteria, in order to block their advancement in the business.
- Since then, three new files have resurfaced in other bus centers. On social networks, some wonder if such a practice is not erected into a system by the management of the RATP.
- For its part, the RATP speaks of simple "local initiatives" and has opened an internal investigation in order to take stock of the problem.
When there is one, it is fine, it is when there are many that there are problems. By using this “Hortefade” in our account, we are not talking here about the Auvergne, but about the illegal files discovered at the RATP in order to delay the advancement of certain bus drivers in the Paris region. In a video shared on the Facebook page "Angry France - Map of rallies (Free expression)", an RATP agent explains that "the saga of illegal filing continues". "Today, it is at Rive Nord that we learn of the existence of an undeclared file to prepare the classification conditions [for bus drivers]", this employee tells us.
Thus, after the first revelations from Mediapart on May 19, which indicated that "the employees were classified [by the director of the Bords-de-Marne bus center in Neuilly-Plaisance] in a secret file, according to illegal criteria", in order to "reserve professional advancement for drivers deemed to be the most productive", it would seem that the practice is not so isolated.
Since that day, some unions have had the unpleasant surprise of receiving in their mailboxes proof of the existence of new files in three other bus centers in the region (Quai-de-Seine, Paris Sud-Ouest and Paris Rives- North). Hence this question: is there, within the RATP, a systemic policy of illegal bus drivers in order to select those who deserve a promotion?
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For several weeks, therefore, the RATP unions (Unsa, CGT, South) have received strange Excel files in their mailbox, in which thousands of bus drivers were listed according to criteria such as seniority, number of driving days completed, the number of overtime hours - so far all is well - but also the number of days of sick leave, maternity leave and days of strikes they have worked in recent years.
The purpose of these files, which 20 Minutes has been able to access, is to classify agents in order to decide whether or not they are advancing in the company in anticipation of what RATP calls “classification commissions”. However, some of these criteria should in no case be used by the employer other than to establish the employees' pay slip.
An illegal practice that is also ignored by the director of the Neuilly-Plaisance bus center when making a first assessment of this file, which he himself describes as "top, because it includes almost everything". Indeed, the latter recommends to its recipients to pay attention to the watertightness of the file (understand: do not drop it in the wrong hands) and to "no longer speak of a strike" because "the counter exists in the file, that's enough. " The dumpling ...
"These are the last columns that are problematic, because all this data comes from the HR file and should not be used to decide the advancement of an employee," explains Bertrand Hammache, secretary general of CGT-RATP. Joined by 20 Minutes , the transport company immediately confirms this information.
“RATP has taken cognizance of four files which do not comply with the rules laid down for the processing of personal data in the bus centers of Bord-de-Marne, Quai-de-Seine, Paris Sud-Ouest and Paris Rives-Nord. The company strongly condemned each of these individual initiatives, ”she tells us. She also asked us if, in the context of this article, we had discovered the existence of a fifth file, which is not the case.
What confirms Ahmed Berrahal, bus driver and CGT union representative, even if he does not exclude the existence of other files of this kind: "We have not received any new evidence since, but we suspect that if we discovered four here and there, there are bound to be others. The thing is, we learned that in other bus depots, they were asked to erase all the files in which the agents are listed… ”.
"They were very embarrassed"
Was the CGT-RATP surprised to discover the Mi'kmaq? "Only half," replies Bertrand Hammache. What surprises us, however, is that we had access to it. Until then, we had suspicions but no evidence. Agents had reported to us that they had been refused their promotion on the grounds that they had been too ill during the year, but it happened between four walls, between the agent and his manager. Today, we have enough to prove it. ” The CGT also plans to bring the case to justice.
In the meantime, the second union at RATP has launched what is called a “social alarm”, a sort of internal procedure supposed to allow an important subject to be addressed and settled without going through the “open conflict” box. But during the first meeting with members of management, Bertrand Hammache quickly became disillusioned. "When we ask them the question of why these files, the only thing we are told is" how did you get them? ". They told us that we were in possession of files that were not intended for us, that we are illegal. They put pressure on us. It was not so much the fault committed as the source of the leak that interested them… ”. “It can only come from their homes [management], since only senior managers have access to this type of file. They're looking for the mole, ”says Ahmed Berrahal.
But it was only the first file. When the second arrives on the union table, the tone changes at RATP. “They were very embarrassed. We are no longer asked how we got these files, but rather what we intend to do with them, smiles the general secretary CGT. "Do you want to file a complaint, publish it in the press?" And as in the meantime, they had sacked the chief of the Bords-de-Marne bus center in quotes, they believed that it would be enough to calm our anger. But there was a feeling that we would receive new evidence of illegal files, it was out of the question to close the file so easily. Must believe we were right. "
RATP warned the CNIL
Faced with the scale of this affair, RATP “immediately reacted by setting up a specific action plan and launching an internal audit. She will take whatever action is necessary based on her findings, ”management tells us. An investigation from which the CGT does not expect much. "It's a bit like the IGPN which is investigating the police ...", breathes Bertrand Hammache.
"The company has also made a report to the CNIL on non-compliant files and is at its disposal for the sake of transparency and respect for the law", announces the RATP. Contacted by 20 Minutes , the CNIL had not answered our questions at the time of publishing this paper.
At first, after the discovery of the first illegal file, the RATP argued that it was the result of a simple "local initiative". She repeats to us today, despite the new cases revealed, that this is by no means a generalized system.
Advancement by seniority, nothing else
This promise, the UNSA, majority union in the company, has trouble swallowing it. "It is indeed a general practice," she wrote in a press release dated June 8. "When you find five files in five different bus depots, it starts to get complicated to say that these are each time individual errors, ”says Ahmed Berrahal.
Bertrand Hammache wants to be more measured: "It is a practice that had to be put in place in a center, then over the exchanges, the chefs said to themselves" ah well, it's not bad as a system, I'm going to do the same". But I do not think that it is an official instruction which comes from the direction. After that, that she tolerated it, it's something else… ”.
Today, the unions hope that these multiple discoveries will help put an end to these illegal practices. "I think it will make the company think about the question of advancement," concludes Bertrand Hammache. If an agent is guilty of professional misconduct, it is normal for him to be penalized. But for the rest, the system must operate on the basis of seniority. Besides, it already exists in the company, it's nothing new. But we just hope that it will be better respected in the future and that these cases will help. "
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- Unsa
- Public transport
- CGT
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- RATP