2024 Olympics: There is “no particular risk” of a strike, says SNCF director general

Four months before the deadline, he is “not pessimistic at all.” Asked about possible threats of a railway strike that would affect the Olympic Games in Paris, which start at the end of July, the director general of SNCF assured this Friday on BFMTV and RMC that he does not see any “special risks” on this subject. Regarding bonuses for personnel mobilized during the event, Jean-Pierre Farandou hopes to reach an agreement “in May or June.”

“We are talking. Since November we have also created a working group with four representative trade union organizations. We see each other every month and move forward,” said Jean-Pierre Farandou, calling himself “tireless in social dialogue.” “At this stage, as for the most Olympics, I don’t see any special risks, I don’t have any special warning,” he assured, while the CGT, for example, announced strike notices covering the period of the Games (July 26 – August 11) for the civil service and RATR.

“We are discussing this calmly”

A whole part of these exchanges is devoted to the organization of the railway company’s work during the competition: management “shares the level of training (…) in full transparency” with the unions, he assured. The issue of bonuses for employees mobilized during the reporting period is also being considered. “We have put proposals on the table, they are now being discussed,” he said.

Previously, the railway company indicated that it was offering employees mobilized during the Games period a bonus of 50 euros per day and an additional bonus of between 200 and 500 euros depending on the period in which they take leave. Asked about the exact amount on offer, in particular compared to the bonus promised to police officers in particular, around 1,500 euros, Jean-Pierre Farandou confirmed that “we are in that order”, without further details. Unions have been skeptical about this figure, which corresponds to the maximum amount of cumulative bonuses, because they believe it is difficult to achieve or is reserved for a small minority.

“We are calmly discussing this, and I think that we will be able to come to an agreement in May-June,” said the head of the railway company. Optimism, he said, is reinforced by “on-site” visits: “I can tell you that the railway workers want everything to work out. (…) They are over-mobilized, they want to be useful to the country and make the Olympics work in SNCF,” he insisted.

He also deplored the “method” of unions who raised the possibility of a strike, he said, “by giving advance notice,” putting themselves “at risk of a strike that irritates the French.” “I do social dialogue for real, seriously,” he insisted. He made passing reference to “two draft agreements” that would be “presented at the beginning of April”: on retirement for railway workers and on employment, insisting that “social dialogue is working”.

“More than two million tickets” have already been sold for the summer

Jean-Pierre Farandou also assured that SNCF plans to “start selling at the lowest prices” for travel during the Olympic Games. “We still care about our customers,” he assured. He also said that “more than two million tickets,” or “10% of the seats,” have already been sold for this summer.

As for prices, “moderate prices are still possible,” he assured. If they can be high, “when we take them at the last moment,” “when we do it now, we can have very low prices,” he emphasized, “especially at Huigo.” Also regarding Inoui: “For three months you get 45% off, for two months you get 35% off, for one month you get 25% off,” he continued.