They call them “Christmas hostages”. Some 200,000 travelers have lost their Christmas weekend train reservations in France after ticket controllers launched an industrial action that angered the French, who generally tolerate strikes.
The strike of a group of railway inspectors and railway ticket inspectors forced the state-owned operator SNCF to cancel a third of scheduled services starting Thursday night, when millions begin their festive family gatherings, across the country.
SNCF is refund canceled tickets at double their cost. But with public transport already full, traveling by car is the only alternative. Thousands of people fought for remaining seats on trains on Thursday ahead of the strike.
The hardest hit services are the high-speed TGV lines, the mainstay of long-distance rail travel in France. Users must call on the Flexi Blus and Bla Bla co-vehicle service, which are already complete.
At least half of the trains have been canceled on major routes such as Paris to Rennes, Paris to Bordeaux and Paris to Marseille. Half of the services to Spain and a third to Italy have been cancelled. The Eurostar service was already facing disrupted services this weekend due to the British railway strike.
disgruntled controllers
The rare French Christmas strike and subsequent planned New Year’s weekend strike were staged mainly on Facebook by disgruntled controllers, who they are not happy with a 12% pay raise., negotiated by the unions. The main railway unions do not support the strike.
The tolerance that the French usually show towards their frequently striking railway workers has been replaced by a general exasperation.
President Emmanuel Macron said he “believes the strike shows a total absence of empathy, solidarity and fraternity”. Olivier Véran, the government spokesman, told ticket inspectors: “There is no strike at Christmas”.
Christophe Béchu, minister of the environment and local government, said the weekend disruption “damages the right to strike”. “It’s not worth the fact that 200,000 French people can’t take the train to spend Christmas with their families,” he added.
apologies
Jean-Pierre Farandou, the head of the SNCF, apologized to the travellers. “The right to strike is indisputable, but the right to travel to see family is sacred,” he said.
The passengers suffered tight schedules, crowded trains and frequent delays.
While commuters criticized SNCF workers on social media and on station platforms, leftist politicians supported the strikers.
Philippe Poutou, a Trotskyist who ran for president in April, said: “The real problem is that the SNCF is privatizing and the government is endangering social rights.”
Public anger is fueled by exasperation at declining train services on all but expensive high-speed lines.
Decades of underinvestment in traditional intercity and suburban services have led to shortened timetables, crowded trains and frequent delays. Paris’ train, metro and bus system, the RATP, is also struggling with overcrowding and breakdowns.
Conservative and pro-business critics blame the persistence of a culture of privilege among railway workersmost of whom are still guaranteed lifelong employment and early retirement, with better pensions than private sector employees, despite Macron-led reforms.
The newspaper i get them He demanded that “SNCF, which has a small degree of competition, be forced to accept new rivals. The high-speed services of Trenitalia, the Italian operator operating between Paris and Lyon, are not affected by the strike,” he said.
He suggested a ban on strikes during the holiday season. “After all, why should the right to strike authorize a handful of railway workers to take 200,000 commuters hostage?”, he asked.
Faced with the anger of the French, who for many are preventing them from going out on the TGV at Christmas, the SNCF management is confused in its apologies. The president and CEO of the group himself went so far as to tell on the RTL microphone on Thursday morning how “sorry” he is, even “distressed” by the consequences of the controllers’ strike.
“I have over 40 years of this house. I’ve seen breaks, but I haven’t seen as many day of holiday releases like this,” she said. Before driving home the point: “It’s still very unique.”
In general, the month of December is usually marked, at the SNCF, by social movements. 2019, 2018, 2016, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010…
Recent examples are countless. However, these mobilizations generally avoid the most critical periods: Christmas and New Year’s.
If it has already happened that December 24 and 25 have been marred by strikes in recent years, the phenomenon is quite rare. Since 2003, this has only happened three times: in 2008, 2010 and 2019.
The first two times, very low participation rates did not lead to consequences this year. In 2008 the social movements did not affect the TGV but only some regional trains in Paris, Marseilles, Nice and Metz, while in 2010 the strike was perfectly painless for users.
At the time, the pension reform caused the longest known social conflict within the French railway group: 37 days from December 5, 24 and 25 inclusive. On Christmas Eve, only two out of five TGVs, four out of 10 TERs or one out of five Intercités were circulating. Much more confusion, therefore, than this year. In 2019, almost one in two French people found it difficult to go out at Christmas, compared to one in four in 2022.
“In general, the end-of-year celebrations are more the object of blackmail than of strikes,” explains Agnès Verdier-Molinié, president of the Foundation for Research in Administration and Public Policy (Ifrap).
A way of saying that the social movements in the SNCF take place more in early December, threatening major strikes at the end of the year, before negotiations with the management in general allow this outcome to be avoided. The general secretary of a group union puts this strategy bluntly, describing the year-end strikes at the SNCF as a “tradition”.
“It’s the only way to make yourself heard,” he explained recently.
This time the traditional pattern of year-end negotiations was not repeated. However, management spared no effort in reaching out to disgruntled drivers.
“We did everything to avoid the strike,” Jean-Pierre Farandou recalled on Thursday morning. In addition to a 12% increase in the salary of all railway workers for two years, the inspectors obtained, among other things, a further increase of 1.5%.
air France
The company does not anticipate any delays this Thursday, despite the launch of an appeal by stewardess unions to stop work.
However, the strike notice is extended until the end of the holidays.
for the following daysyou will have to wait until the day before to know the flight schedule.
No interruptions expected, two days before Christmas: Air France will guarantee “the entirety of its flight schedule” on Thursday, the first day of the strike called by two unions of flight attendants. The flight schedule for the following days will be known 24 hours in advance,” he added.
The cabin crew unions UNAC and SNGAF have presented a strike notice, covering the year-end holidays, from December 22 to January 2, in a context of social conflict around the collective agreement for hostesses and hostesses.
Both are asking for a “temporary contractual solution to replace the collective agreement” for crews, which expired at the end of October, while a new collective agreement is being negotiated.
Paris, correspondent
B. C
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.