A strike hard to avoid this Friday on the network
RATP. This Monday, the management reported a persistent “disagreement” with
trade unions on the question of wages four days before a united strike. Management and unions “agreed on a statement of disagreement while a second round of hearings on the NAOs is to be held this week [négociations annuelles obligatoires] as well as the multilateral negotiation session” on Friday, said RATP in a press release.
This text was released after a meeting between management and the four representative unions (CGT, FO, Unsa and CFE-CGC). The latter, along with almost all of the other trade unions in the region, called for a strike on Friday to demand a substantial wage increase.
RATP anticipates strike and apologizes
According to these unions, the general management of the public company has proposed an increase of 0.4% for the current year “to be sprinkled in various social measures”. But the management disputed this figure, citing for 2022 “an increase of 2.7% in average remuneration” after 2.1% in 2021, and an allowance for “maintenance of purchasing power” aimed at compensating l’inflation.
This increase is a mix between advancement and seniority (+1.8%), categorical measures (+0.5%) and cross-functional measures that concern all RATP employees (+0.4 %). It is on this last figure that the trade unions rely to contest the management’s proposal. The latter also dangled a profit-sharing that “could be higher than that of previous years”. “In recent years, the incentive has been around 1,000 euros net annually,” she said. According to management, “there are therefore more than 100 million euros which will be redistributed to employees in 2022” in total. For its part, the CGT, the first union in the group, is asking for a 3% annual increase over the next three years.
Without waiting for Wednesday evening, when it will give an assessment of the consequences of the strike on traffic, the RATP on Monday invited “all travelers who have the possibility to postpone their trip on the network” on Friday and also “apologized for the transport conditions to be expected”.