The beginning of 2025 will bring the death of Fret SNCF and the birth of its replacements: Hexafret, which will carry out operations, and Technis, which will take care of locomotive maintenance. Despite the initiative causing significant chaos in France, there seems to be good news for the workers who will be transferred from Fret SNCF to the new entities: they will maintain the same benefits for the next 3 years.
Trade union UNSA-Ferroviaire said it reached a transition agreement for the employees which will be transferred to Hexafret and Technis. More specifically, the SNCF schemes concerning healthcare, end-of-carrer and supplementary social protection will remain in place, and so will the development opportunities within the SNCF Group. Workers will also retain their access to SNCF social services and their travel discounts. This was “the fruit of a long struggle”, the trade union highlighted.
Strike threat keeps looming
“Despite these significant advances, UNSA-Ferroviaire remains firm in its stance against the discontinuity decision imposed by the European Commission”, the union pointed out. Together with three other trade unions, UNSA-Ferroviaire is calling for SNCF employees to go on an indefinite strike starting Wednesday 11 December to protest against the discontinuity of the national rail freight operator. A first 37-hour strike was organised on November 20, but only 25 per cent of the eligible people ended up participating. It remains to be seen how many people will join the new strike and for how long it will go on.
