The four trade unions at France’s rail company SNCF are calling for a general strike and protest marches on Thursday, ahead of a rolling strike mid December. They are angry over the proposed dismantling of freight operations and the opening of regional lines to competition.
After an initial strike day on Thursday, the CGT-Cheminots, Unsa-Ferroviaire, Sud-Rail and CFDT-Cheminots unions said the renewable and unlimited strike action would begin on 11 December.
“There is a lot of anger and frustration. Some of us are ready to fight, we are feeling pretty low,” according to Sébastien Mourgues, regional secretary of the CGT Languedoc Roussillon in the south of France.
“We are sounding the alarm and we want real negotiations,” he told Franceinfo on Wednesday.
“We have made a series of proposals and we are asking for a parliamentary debate so that the decisions taken are not unilateral.”
Although unions are hoping for a strong turnout, SNCF said traffic will be almost normal on the high speed TGV, specifying that there would be some disruptions on regional lines with seven TER trains out of ten on average.
Intercity trains are likely to be affected with only one in two trains in circulation, and no night trains.
In Ile-de-France, disruptions will be limited and will mainly focus on the RER D and line R of the Transilien, strongholds of the Sud-Rail union, with only one train in three.
In recent weeks, the unions have criticised the continuing shake-up of the railway operator, slamming the “fragmentation” of the network.
Last week, Julien Troccaz, the Sud-Rail federal secretary referred to the changes to the freight sector alarming.
(with AFP)
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