A 59-day strike by French signalmen near Paris is reported to have ended, with the local branch of the SUD Rail labour union crying victory in a dispute which had focused on working conditions and redundancies. The end of the strikes should bring massive relief to the French rail freight sector, as it was reportedly impacting 40% of trains running in the area.
French rail associations recently underlined that Paris Nord, where the stoppages were taking place, was vital to rail freight in France. Here, a significant proportion of traffic serves the French capital as well as the north-south and east-west axis for long-distance services. Signalling staff and traffic controllers at the Le Bourget rail freight marshalling yard began the strike on 7 April.
This was in response to what SUD Rail representative for the Paris Nord sector, Anasse Kazib, described as “a clear attack on our jobs and working conditions, which would lead to a considerable loss of safety. In the case of the removal of the Villemomble signalman, the consequences are clear: management wants us to do the same job with one agent instead of two as is currently the case.”
Associations take SNCF Réseau’s side
On Thursday, 17 July, the union signed an agreement with SNCF Réseau which would include the abandonment of almost all of management’s proposals. Moreover, it would pause any plans to cut signalling staff jobs across the entire Le Bourget freight yard for the three years. However, when contacted to confirm that an agreement had been reached with the union branch to end the strike, no one at SNCF Réseau was immediately available to comment.
Alexandre Gallo, president of AFRA and head of DB Cargo France confirmed to RailFreight.com that the strike is over, adding: “From the outset, railway companies and their customers have supported SNCF Réseau’s management in their firm stance. We cannot give in to the constant blackmail of a handful of politicised individuals whose goal is certainly not the development of rail freight.
“That’s why, earlier this week AFRA, Alliance 4F and GNTC (the three largest associations in France) issued a joint statement to affirm our determination and, once again, our support for the management of SNCF Réseau. It is high time that the French rail network, which is an inalienable public asset, was no longer held hostage by such actions and that we were able to operate freely on it”, Gallo concluded.