SNCF controllers' strike: despite the agreement, Christmas Eve disrupted:

Europe 1 with AFP 08:15, December 24, 2022

The TGV cuts increase on Saturday to the second day of a strike by SNCF controllers, plunging into disarray on New Year's Eve for travelers who will however be able to travel on the New Year's weekend after an agreement validated Friday between the management of the group and unions.

50% of TGVs canceled on the North and Atlantic routes

After the cancellation of one in three trains on Friday, 40% of TGVs were canceled on Saturday and Sunday.

On the North and Atlantic axes, 50% of the TGVs have been canceled, as well as 40% on the South-East and East axes.

A Ouigo in three and a quarter of the Intercités have also been deleted, according to the SNCF.

Friday in French stations, passengers often displayed annoyance tinged with a desire to respect the right to strike.

"They are striking for a reason, I understand, but not during the holidays anyway. We have enough stress already", regretted Inga Skripkina, 41, at Lille Flandres station.

"I find it a bit inflated to do this during the Christmas holidays, even if I do not question the right to strike", summarizes Didier, a retired railway worker who was preparing to leave for Draguignan from the Lyon station in Paris.

"Madness"

"There are plenty of other times in the year to go on strike, there it is madness, we are manipulated by five guys", got angry at Bordeaux station Mr. Leroux - who did not want to give his first name.

No rush however: those present at the station on Friday were sure to be able to leave, the company having informed its customers from Tuesday of the canceled trains.

Canceled tickets can be reimbursed for six months at double the initial amount, in vouchers.

In total, the cost of the strike should amount to a hundred million euros for the SNCF, according to the Minister Delegate for Transport Clément Beaune.

Trains could not be rescheduled overnight

An evening of negotiations on Thursday between the unions and the group's management made it possible to find a solution to the conflict initiated by a collective of controllers outside the unions, leading to the lifting of the strike notice for next weekend by the unions, which did not call however not on strike.

Among the measures recorded in the agreement, the creation of a "leadership of the board" in order to be more attentive to the problems that could arise for the controllers and an increase in a specific bonus for controllers.

But for Christmas, it's too late: the trains being prepared several days in advance, they could not be rescheduled overnight.

Observing "spontaneous movements which are created very brutally on social networks" and demands which "mainly relate to a need for consideration", Clément Beaune judged in an interview with the JDD necessary "to have a more attentive listening within the public companies and (...) to think about social alert systems, internal negotiations within the company".