Europe 1 11:45 a.m., September 14, 2023

No strike between now and the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics? This is the commitment made by the majority union of French air traffic controllers. But what about other professions, especially in the railway sector? Guest of La Grande interview of Europe 1-CNews Thursday, the president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand, defended the principle of a law on the "guaranteed service" in transport. He also claims that this truce was concluded in exchange for "a ransom".

INTERVIEW

"I wish the transport minister would stop squandering taxpayers' money." Guest of La Grande interview of Europe 1-CNews Thursday, the president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand, defended the principle of a law on the "guaranteed service" in transport, prohibiting strikes during major events. The majority union among air traffic controllers, the SNCTA, announced at the end of August that it had filed a strike notice for the day of September 15, demanding wage increases.

>> Find the Grande interview of Europe 1-Cnews in replay and podcast here

Transport Minister 'paid a ransom'

A strike notice finally lifted after an agreement reached with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which provides for "an increase in compensation" and "a commitment to an Olympic truce until September 2024", to the satisfaction of the government. According to Xavier Bertrand, the government would have "paid a ransom" to air traffic controllers in order to obtain a "truce" until the 2024 Olympics. "We don't know what was said and I'll tell you one thing: he paid a ransom," he said. "I ask Mr. Beaune to reveal what is in this agreement which today is totally secret," he continued.

"We know for a fact that other professions will do the same"

For the president of Hauts-de-France, other unions (RATP, SNCF ...) "are preparing to, on the eve of the Olympic Games, demand maximum progress for them." "To govern is to anticipate. We know for a fact that, in the coming months, other professions will do the same thing, saying 'we give you your Olympic truce and pay'," he assured the microphone of Europe 1 and CNews.

According to him, the law on the minimum service must evaluate, like the Italian model on the guaranteed service, in order to "protect the State and the French who take transport". The right to strike is "constitutional", but there is, in the Constitution, "a balance between the right to strike and freedom of movement", he concluded.