© Reuters. The quays crowded the gare Saint-Lazare in Paris on the 19th of April 2018
Two conflicts in deadlock and a new episode delicate for travelers: the railway workers of the SNCF and the staff of Air France (PA:AIRF) is called to stop work on Monday and Tuesday, and disruptions to the planned close of the previous episodes.
Not of convergence, but a coincidence of struggles unique. For the first time since the beginning of the two conflicts, the strikes at Air France and the SNCF fall on the same dates, two days in a row.
On the rails, the fifth episode of the strike in dotted lines, from 20: 00 Sunday, promises to be a little less follow-up than the fourth, with an average of 2 TGV on 5 outstanding Monday, 3 RER and Transilien on 7, as well as 3-City 10, according to the forecasts disclosed on Sunday by the railway company.
“The traffic will be improved,” said the president of the SNCF Guillaume Pepy at mid-day, the published figures being slightly up compared to the previous days of mobilization.
However, the situation will remain very contrasted from one line to the other.
On Tuesday and Wednesday last, only one TGV out of three, a City on four -, two -, TER and Transilien five had been maintained.
The number of strikers, however, has not varied: “there are four railway workers on five-to-work” but “those who drive the trains are on strike at 60%,” said Mr Pepy.
“This is much less than at the beginning of the strike, where it was 77%”, he added, saying that “the strike is eroding slowly.”
The vote on railway reform Tuesday at the national Assembly, however, has not deterred unions, which have suspended Thursday their discussions with the minister of Transport, Elizabeth Terminal, and asked to negotiate directly with the Prime minister, Edouard Philippe.
To put pressure on the executive, other episodes of strike are scheduled until the end of June, and the movement could even be extended into July and August, according to Le Parisien.
A scenario unthinkable for the boss of the SNCF, was convinced that”there will be no strike this summer because the railway workers are responsible people”.
– “force a passage” –
In the air also, the conflict remains, even if the traffic forecasts for the tenth day of the strike in two months are a little better than in the previous one.
Air France plans to ensure 75% of its flights on Monday, compared with 70% last Wednesday.
In detail, the company table on 65% of long-haul flights are maintained, a rate identical to the medium-haul and departing to the airport Paris-Charles de Gaulle and 85% for the short-haul at Paris-Orly and in the province
The number of strikers required to report before the motion is down about three points in the drivers (28.1 per cent), and among the hostesses and stewards (19.6 per cent), and almost a point among the staff on the ground (13%).
The company “regrets the continuation of these strikes,” and recalls that it has “made several proposals to get out of the conflict”.
Faced with the rejection of the trade unions in his last draft of the agreement, the management announced Friday the launch of a consultation with all employees” on the basis of his latest proposal: a 2% immediate increase in wages and an additional 5% over three years. The unions are asking for them, up 5.1% from this year.
CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac has clearly put his resignation in the balance: if the result “is negative, I don’t see how I could stay,” he warned Friday.
An “attempt to force a passage, ( … ) recalling the worst times of the social dialogue,” responded Gregory Aplincourt, president of the Spaf, second pilots union, in a statement sent to AFP.
The boss of Air France “is trying to dramatize the situation ( … ), putting them in front and in the promises of chaos,” said Philippe Martinez, general secretary of the CGT, on BFM TV. For him, “this is not the right solution”.
