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SNCF: a call for strike action as the holidays approach

undefined undefined 6 novembre 2024 undefined 17h00

undefined undefined 21 novembre 2024 undefined 15h48

The Editor

© Shutterstock - Alexandros Michailidis

As the holidays approach, the SNCF unions are raising their voices and calling for a first day of strike on Thursday, November 21. They do not rule out extending the movement into December if their demands go unanswered. 

The number of trains cut in half at Christmas? The French are starting to get familiar with this tune. As the year-end festivities approach rapidly, the SNCF unions – CGT, FO, Sud-Rail, Unsa, and CFDT – are all calling for a 24-hour strike on Thursday, November 21. This decision comes in response to the dismantling of Fret SNCF, a public company that handles half of the freight traffic by rail in France, which is currently under investigation by the European Commission for illegal public aid. 


« The Hour is for Conflict at SNCF » 

The source of the conflict between the unions and the railway company lies in the liquidation of Fret SNCF, but also in « the privatization of TER, Transilien, and Intercity activities » as well as « the fragmentation of SNCF Réseau » due to the opening up to competition. This is what the various union organizations indicated in a statement titled « The Hour is for Conflict at SNCF », shared by AFP. 

In this statement, it is mentioned that the strike on November 21 is an « ultimatum  that is renewable: a movement that is « longer and stronger » could continue in December if the government and SNCF do not respond to the workers' demands. This would disrupt c.considerably the traffic on French rails during the Christmas holidays. 


The dreaded loss of social benefits by railway workers 

The strike is happening at this time of year because, in December, the first SNCF railway workers will be transferred to subsidiaries created to respond to the TER tender processes launched by regions that have decided to open their rail networks to competition, as mentioned earlier. 

By decentralizing the workers, unions fear the loss of social benefits in the face of strategies of "social dumping" – a practice aimed at reducing employees' rights to increase the competitiveness of companies – and the "unlimited financial profitability " denounced in the statement. More broadly, they wish to respond against .a " illegitimate government " and thus influence the decisions of the delegated Minister of Transport François Durovray.

The organizations' demands are clear: the halt to processes of " discontinuity of SNCF Freight ", "TER, Transilien, and Intercities spin-offs " and a "multi-year programming law for the modernization of the rail system ". Will they be heard? Stay tuned.