SNCF. Disturbances are to be expected this Wednesday, December 7, generated by a new strike movement, mainly on the TER and Transiliens.
[Mis à jour le 6 décembre 2022 à 10h15] After a weekend marked by a massive strike on French rail, SNCF travelers will have to face another day of strike on Wednesday, December 7. On the occasion of the opening of the mandatory annual negotiations for wages, three unions, namely the CGT-Cheminots, SUD-Rail and the CFDT-Cheminots, called for mobilization. However, cancellations should be significantly fewer than this weekend. The SNCF affirmed Monday, December 5 in the early evening, as reported BFM Businessthat only “some local disturbances” are expected on Wednesday.
TGV, Ouigo, Intercités, TER, Transilien… Who will be most affected by the SNCF strike on Wednesday December 7? A priori, the strike movement will mainly concern TER and Transilien. In detail, the SNCF, echoed by BFM Business, believes that the TER from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est, Occitanie and Sud regions will experience disruption. In Isle of-Francelines C, D, E and N should be impacted. “Certain TGV or Intercités trains may also experience cancellations, in particular on the TGV axis Paris – Lyon due to a local social movement of SNCF Réseau switchers, as well as the TGVs south of Bordeaux”, further specifies the operator. The travelers concerned should receive an email or a text message informing them. With regard to the TER and Transilien, details of the disruptions will be available Tuesday evening, from 5 p.m., on the applications and other usual information tools.
The “unitary strike” of Wednesday, December 7 could she play extra time at the end of the week? Even until Christmas? “It will be followed, but at a different level than this weekend,” said Fabien Villedieu, SUD-Rail union representative, on franceinfo. The union representative estimates that the movement of December 7 should not last more than one day. Indeed, the notice given by SOUTH-Rail covers the period from December 6 at 8 p.m. to December 8 at 8 a.m.
If, by the end of the year, the controllers and the unions do not succeed in winning their case, new strikes could hit the French rail transport network during the Christmas holidays, a period when many French people take the train. Indeed, if the strike movement this weekend did not start from the SNCF unions, but from a collective of controllers, four unions have since given their support to the movement: Unsa, SUD-Rail, CFDT and FO locally.
The four unions have filed strike notices for the weekends of Friday December 23 to Monday December 26 and from Friday December 30 to Monday January 2, with the aim of putting pressure on the negotiations with the SNCF. Saturday 3 December, the Minister of Transport Clément Beaune nevertheless wanted to put this scenario of paralysis of transport for the end of the year celebrations into perspective. “I can’t bring myself to have things written down,” he said, calling for “collective responsibility”, according to comments reported by BFM TV. “The week is decisive”, announced the national secretary at the CFDT-railway workers Sabine Le Toquin. “We will know if Christmas is in danger or not. The ball is in the company’s court”.