Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: MAYLIS ROLLAND / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 5:27 p.m., February 21, 2024

In order to retain Régie staff, the RATP announced this Wednesday that it had signed an agreement with three unions to “improve the quality of life at work” and experiment with a four-day week. The experiment began on January 18 and concerns four lines, with no reduction in working time.

RATP announced on Wednesday that it had signed an agreement with three unions - FO, Unsa and CFE-CGC - "to improve the quality of life at work" and experiment with the four-day week in order to retain the loyalty of Régie staff, faced with an increase in resignations. The experiment with the four-day week began on January 18 and concerns four lines - 5, 7 and 9 of the metro and the RER B -, without reduction in working time.

Promote “loyalty and attractiveness of the company”

The system concerns station agents, but not drivers. It provides for a weekly organization for managers and controllers with four days worked and three days off, with an increase in daily working time of one hour and fifteen minutes. Station and station reception staff will work on a cycle of four days followed by two days of rest, with no increase in daily working time. For the moment, 170 agents have volunteered to test the system during a first phase of 42 days, possibly renewable.

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The system will then give rise to feedback to find out whether it is extended or not. Five thousand agents could ultimately be affected. The agreement includes other measures to promote "loyalty and attractiveness of the company", according to RATP, which is facing staffing problems affecting bus and metro services. It provides for a "significant increase in our capacity to accommodate more employees", indicated the group's human resources director Jean Agulhon.

Housing 1,200 families

To reduce travel time between home and the workplace and "taking into account the price of real estate in the Paris region", the RATP has set itself the objective of housing 1,200 families compared to 860 today. It also plans to double the number of places offered in daycare for its employees, with hours adapted earlier in the morning and later in the evening. Finally, the Régie will invest in 140 exoskeletons to equip twelve of its workshops and assist employees occupying the most difficult positions with maintenance. “The negotiation was long and demanding, we have been on these issues for more than a year, so we are very satisfied to have been able to conclude this agreement,” welcomed Jean Agulhon.

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Only the CGT-RATP (the group's first union) refused to sign. “This agreement is a compilation of mandatory regulatory texts, from which management cannot escape. The rest is a cartload of declarations of intent,” reacted the union in a press release. RATP operates part of the public transport in Paris and its suburbs.