SNCF strike: Management proposes pay raise

SNCF management has offered rail workers an average 5.9% pay increase in 2023, following mandatory annual negotiations that are critical for a group hit by a strike that was largely undone on Wednesday. The railway group has proposed a general increase of 2% for all, accompanied by a “one-time revaluation” of 600 euros gross annually, François Noguet told the group’s HRD in detail. Last weekend only 40% of TGVs and Intercités were in circulation due to the inspectors’ strike.

With the increase in various bonuses (working at night, on Sundays, on public holidays), paying 75% of the transport subscription instead of the current 50% or paying for the mobility package, management believes that the increase in wages is more than 6% on average. On Wednesday, the unions have not yet announced their position, preferring to consult with their members beforehand.

“We have done everything possible to remove the wage dispute as much as possible,” the human rights activist assured, adding that if the unions refuse to sign, the increases will still be applied with the reduction of some additional measures. According to SNCF management, all the proposed measures require about 600 million euros.

Localized Violations

In this context, CGT-Cheminots, SUD-Rail and CFDT-Cheminots called for a strike on Wednesday to demand measures at least equal to inflation, roughly 6.2% in November for the year. Mobilization was rather weak: 7% of strikers, according to a source close to the leadership, and local riots, such as in Lyon, where the social signaling movement disrupted traffic towards Paris and regional ties.

“In a way, they are right when they complain,” said Celine Deschaux, 22, at the Lyon Part-Dieu train station, forced to take the train much earlier than expected to leave for work. But “it regularly puts a lot of people in a difficult position,” she complained. Violations also affected TER Burgundy-Franche-Comté, Grand Est, Occitania and PACA, as well as some lines in Ile-de-France (C, D, E and N).

“I say this for the future, especially for the two weekends at the end of the year that are affected by the strike notice, we must avoid it,” Transport Minister Clément Beaune said during the presentation of the Strasbourg RER organized in Paris. The atmosphere of the talks was described by François Noguet as “training”. “I have a feeling that we have achieved a balance of quality,” he stressed.

Controllers received on Thursday

“There is a social dialogue in SNCF that (…) works well,” Clement Bon said the same morning, urging everyone to compromise. “The French will not understand in the difficult period that follows two Christmases, already complicated by Covid, that we are adding complexity to them,” he said. The first raise had already been granted after the July 6 strike. Last Thursday, SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou warned of the risk of higher ticket prices if wages were raised too much.

Tensions are especially tense at the end of the year at SNCF, as the controllers, who have gathered in a collective outside of any union framework, threaten to strike over the Christmas and New Year holidays, they will be received on Thursday. “Unions are doing mediation work and will be able to provide the necessary and sufficient training to get out of this situation,” the human rights activist assured SNCF.

Pension reform in the background

Signalers are due to meet with management on Friday. They demand employment and wages more in line with their duties. After the threat of a first strike failed to materialize on May 25, they secured the hiring of 200 additional traffic police officers, a bonus of 600 euros and a temporary increase in their labor bonus by 20% for seven months.

However, the company “didn’t live up to its obligations,” said SUD-Rail’s Eric Meyer. Therefore, a new strike notice was filed from 15 to 19 December, including the first weekend of the New Year holidays.

The prospect of a pension reform due to be unveiled by the government around December 15 is also heating up the unions. “We will be against this reform, as we were during the last series of 2019-2020,” Cedric Robert (CGT) warned, recalling the 58-day strike that hit the SNCF at the time.