Ophélie Artaud / Photo credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP 12:27 p.m., February 15, 2024

One in two trains will run this weekend, right in the middle of the school holidays, due to a social movement by controllers. In recent years, strikes have increased at the SNCF. A situation which is not new, because the railway company has not had a single year without a strike in 77 years.

One in two trains will run this school holiday weekend. This Thursday evening, SNCF controllers begin a strike, which is expected to last until Sunday evening. They are demanding salary increases. For their part, users are once again forced to adapt. A frequent situation for travelers, especially since the railway company has not had a single year without a strike since... 1947. This is indicated by a freely accessible database on the railway's website. SNCF.

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Certain years were particularly marked by social movements. The year 1968 logically comes first, with more than 4.6 million days lost, or 14.63 days lost per agent, according to SNCF data. In May 1968, railway workers joined the student movement and mobilized en masse, participating in the blockade of the country. Then comes the years 1947 and 1953, with 3 million days lost each time. In both cases, SNCF agents joined national protest movements.

Almost two months of strike in a row in 2018

Recently, the year most affected by social movements at SNCF is 2018, with 667,085 days lost. Spring 2018 was indeed marked by repeated strike days, from the end of March to the end of June. The railway workers then opposed the railway reform, which provided for the elimination of their status for new hires, the change of status of the SNCF to a public limited company, or even the opening to competition. Measures finally adopted by Parliament in June 2018, and put in place since 2020.

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Conversely, the years 1956, 1952, 1959 or more recently 2002 or 2021 did not see many strike days.

If the last 77 years of the SNCF have all been marked by days of mobilization, it is even possible that the SNCF, created in 1937, has not known any year without a strike, because "the data relating to social conflicts between the creation of SNCF in 1937 and 1947 have not been archived in their entirety", indicates their database.