Paris (AFP)
The strike called for by five RATP unions on Thursday will have no impact on the metro or the RER and hardly on the bus, said the CEO of the public group, Catherine Guillouard, on Monday.
"Today, we are very confident for the 17th (December). We think that we will have normal traffic on the rail (network) and almost normal on the bus," said Ms. Guillouard on RTL.
Five unions of the RATP --Unsa, CGT, SAT, Solidaires and SUD - called to strike Thursday to protest against "the consequences" for the agents of the next opening to competition of the networks of the Régie.
The RATP "obviously works with the government to put in place conditions for this opening up to competition which are acceptable and which give visibility to all our employees", assured Catherine Guillouard, noting that 18,000 employees out of 45,000 were concerned.
RATP's networks must be open to competition between 2024 and 2039, starting with the buses for which calls for tenders should be launched "at the end of 2022-beginning of 2023".
On the coronavirus front, Catherine Guillouard noted that the RATP's offer would remain unchanged with the establishment of a curfew from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., from Tuesday, with "about 50% of the offer normal ".
Attendance currently reaches, according to the manager, on average 45% of normal on the rail network - except during rush hour when it reaches 60% -, and 62% on the surface network.
The RATP - which "has a fairly protective contract" with the regional transport authority Ile-de-France Mobilités - will "end the year with a negative impact of around 400 million euros" because of pandemic, Ms. Guillouard noted without further clarification.
© 2020 AFP