Minimum service on transport: Valerie Pekress calls for a rewrite of the law

“Unacceptable”. On Wednesday evening, during her vow on the eve of the anti-pension reform strike movement, Valerie Pekress (LR) called for a review of minimum work experience legislation in transport. “On the eve of a new day of hardship for all the inhabitants of Ile-de-France in transport, on lines that have been undermined for several months by latent social movements, I say this decisively, the freedom of some ends where it begins. . Strikers have rights. Travelers too,” she said at the headquarters of the Île-de-France region, in Saint-Ouen (Saint-Saint-Denis).

This Thursday, January 19, the RER, metro and Transilien networks almost came to a standstill. “Unfortunately, we know (editor’s note: this Thursday) the minimum service will not be provided on Île-de-France transport. This is unacceptable and I am asking Parliament to initiate a rewrite of the minimum service law and finally vote for 100% guaranteed transport service during peak hours. This is also the case in other countries.”

The text, adopted under the chairmanship of Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007, obliges the striking agents to declare themselves 48 hours in advance in order to report a “transport plan” no later than 24 hours before the riots. On the other hand, there are no “requisitions” to force employees to take their positions and ensure the continuity of work. The right to strike prevails.

In the case of Île-de-France, “minimum service” is a simple contractual obligation that requires RATP and SNCF to serve at least 50% of trains during peak hours. In case of non-compliance, fines are paid to Ile-de-France Mobilités, the body in charge of transport, chaired by Valerie Pecresse.

Environmentalists react

The speech of the president of the region provoked a reaction from her opponents. “One day of strike in defense of our rights is ultimately nothing compared to the 364 days of deprivation in public transport that you allowed to continue for several months,” writes David Belliard (EELV), assistant to the Paris transport. MEP David Kormand (EELV) also responded: “Start by ensuring that 100% of the public transport services under your responsibility are guaranteed outside of strike days… It will already be quite a lot.”

Last Friday, the Île-de-France Mobilités called the heads of the RATP and SNCF to present a plan to restore service after months of deterioration.