AFP, published on Wednesday, December 07, 2022 at 8:34 p.m.
The management of the SNCF offered railway workers a salary increase of 5.9% on average in 2023 following mandatory annual negotiations that are crucial for the group, affected by a strike with little follow-up on Wednesday.
The railway group has proposed a general increase of 2% for all accompanied by a “lump sum revaluation” of 600 euros gross annually, detailed the HRD of the François Nogué group during a press briefing. With the increase in various bonuses (night work, Sundays, public holidays), the payment of 75% of the transport subscription instead of the current 50%, or the payment of a mobility package, management considers that the salary increase exceeds 6% on average.
On Wednesday, the unions had not yet communicated their position, preferring to consult their members beforehand.
“We did everything we could to lift the wage dispute as much as possible,” assured Mr. Nogué, specifying that if the trade unions refused to sign, the increases would still be applied with the degradation of certain additional measures.
According to the management of the SNCF, all the measures put on the table represent an effort of around 600 million euros.
In this context, the CGT-Cheminots, SUD-Rail and the CFDT-Cheminots called for a strike on Wednesday to demand measures at least equal to inflation – 6.2% in November over one year.
The mobilization was rather weak with 7% of strikers according to a source close to the management, and localized disturbances, as in Lyon where a social movement of the signalmen disturbed the traffic towards Paris and the regional connections.
“In a sense, they are right to complain,” said Céline Déchaux, 22, at Lyon Part-Dieu station, forced to take a train much earlier than expected to go to work. But “it puts a lot of people in difficulty” on a recurring basis, she lamented.
– Dialogue social –
Disturbances also affected the TERs of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est, Occitanie and PACA as well as certain lines in Ile-de-France (C, D, E and N).
“I say this for the future, for the two end-of-year weekends in particular – on which a strike notice weighs – we must avoid this,” said Transport Minister Clément Beaune. , during the presentation of the Strasbourg RER organized in Paris.
The atmosphere of the negotiations was described as “studious” by Mr. Nogué. “I have the feeling that we have reached a balance of quality,” he said.
“There is a social dialogue at the SNCF which (…) works well”, Mr. Beaune had indicated the same morning, calling on everyone to compromise. “The French would not understand in a period which is not easy, which follows two Christmases which have already been complicated by the Covid, that we add complications to them”, he said.
A first increase had already been granted after a strike on July 6.
Last Thursday, SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou warned of the risk of seeing ticket prices increase if wages were raised too much.
– Pensions in the background –
The climate is particularly tense at the end of the year at the SNCF, since the controllers, gathered in a collective outside any union framework, threaten to strike on Christmas and New Year weekends. They will be received on Thursday.
“The trade unions are doing a work of intermediation and will be able to do the necessary and sufficient education to get out of this situation”, reassured the HRD of the SNCF.
The signalmen must meet management on Friday. They demand recruitment and a salary more in line with their responsibilities.
After a first strike threat not carried out on May 25, they had obtained the recruitment of 200 additional traffic officers, a bonus of 600 euros and a temporary increase of 20% of their work bonus for seven months.
The company “has not kept its commitments”, however, believes Erik Meyer of SUD-Rail. A new strike notice has therefore been filed, from December 15 to 19, including the first weekend of the end-of-year holidays.
The prospect of the pension reform, which should be presented around December 15 by the government, also heats the unions to white.
“We will be up against this reform, as we had been during the last sequence of 2019-2020”, warned Cédric Robert (CGT), recalling the 58 days of strike which had then affected the SNCF.