Europe1.fr with AFP/Photo credits: ALAIN JOCARD / AFP 10:15 a.m., February 13, 2024
Guest on RTL, SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou urges controllers to take into account the "dimension" of the concessions made by management before carrying out their threat of strike in the middle of the school holiday weekend.
SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou on Tuesday called on controllers to “think” and “take the dimension” of the concessions made by management before carrying out their threat of strike in the middle of the school holiday weekend.
“We are increasing employment, we are increasing wages, we are offering a platform for social progress, I do not see why in response we would have a disruption for the French who want to go on vacation,” said Jean-Pierre Farandou on RTL .
“I call on them to think, to take into account the dimension of the progress that has been made, they are serious, they are solid, they are coherent. And I say it again, we are ready to deal with all the demands, but in a process to cold,” he insisted.
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SNCF: controllers threaten to strike on the weekend of February 17-18
The CGT and Sud-Rail are calling for a strike for the weekend of February 17-18, in the middle of the school holidays in zone C (Ile-de-France) and at the start of those in zone A (Bordeaux, Lyon, Grenoble...), the Unsa having for its part not filed a notice and the CFDT-Cheminots lifted its notice.
Claims linked to the work bonus
To try to avoid the movement, management decided to pay an additional bonus of 400 euros in March for railway workers, increased the residence allowance for employees living where the real estate market is in tension, agreed to 3,000 additional promotions, decided to create 1,100 additional jobs, including 200 controllers, said Jean-Pierre Farandou.
The demands linked to the work bonus for controllers and the gradual cessation of activity must, according to him, be treated "coldly". “It’s complicated to say yes to everything, because it’s also the boss’s role to say what is possible and what is not,” added Jean-Pierre Farandou. He particularly insisted on the need for "social coherence" between the different professions within the group, believing that "it is not because we have the capacity to annoy the French that we should obtain more".
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Why do breakdowns keep happening on certain SNCF lines?
As a disrupted weekend in the stations approaches, "I really regret that the SNCF cannot be completely there", he said, promising that "all cities will be served". “If today I manage to convince a controller not to strike, that’s 500 more French people who can go on vacation,” he explained.
The SNCF must communicate its traffic plan on Wednesday morning.