France is on the verge of an indefinite strike by railway workers from the SNCF Group planned to start on Wednesday 11 December. However, one of the four unions organising the strike has pulled out, and it’s calling the other unions to do so as well, despite being “ready to resume strike action if social dialogue is not at the level expected by early 2025”.
The four unions organising the strike are UNSA-Ferroviaire, CGT-Cheminots, SUD-Rail and the CFDT-Cheminots. UNSA is the one now calling it off, but it does not seem that their call will be answered. CGT-Cheminots is now calling for employees of three rail-related associations to join their strikes as of 12 December. It also seems that SUD-Rail and CFDT-Cheminots are still going to go on strike.
The main reason why UNSA will no longer take part in the strike is that progress were recently made in the negotiations with SNCF Group about the transition following the discontinuation of the national rail freight operator Fret SNCF. However, the union still underlines that it is against this solution as it is “counter to the social, economic and ecological issues at stake”. If things will happen to go south at the beginning of next year, UNSA going to strike might once again be a possibility.
Against Fret SNCF discontinuation
This upcoming strike was preceded by a 37-hour long one between 20 and 22 November, which reportedly did not see large participation. Both initiatives were against the discontinuation of Fret SNCF, which will cease to exist at the end of this year and will be replaced by two new companies, Hexafret for operations and Technis for locomotive maintenance.
This restructuring is a consequence of an investigation launched by the European Commission, which suspected illegal state aid was provided to Fret SNCF. The French government decided to go down this path so that the company would not have to pay its multi-million debt back. Trade unions have been vocally contrasting this initiative, as 500 jobs have already been cut.