With the railway workers’ strike starting Monday (April 2nd), Guillaume Pépy, the head of the SNCF, is formal: very few trains will circulate and there will be “closed lines”.
SNCF CEO Guillaume Pepy warned Sunday that there would be ” closed lines ” because of the strike that begins Monday , while Minister of Transport Elisabeth Borne blasted an “incomprehensible” movement.
In an interview with our colleagues at the JDD , the boss of the SNCF explains:
“If there is a lack of dispatchers, the law does not allow us to requisition them, so there will be closed lines. On the main lines, the trains announced the day before 5pm will be guaranteed. We will send an email or SMS to all those who have a reservation to confirm or cancel the flow of their train the day before from 5 pm.”
After advising travellers Friday to give up the train from 19h Monday, Mr. Pepy reiterated that “the French must be lucid. We said and repeated that there would be very few trains from the evening of April 2nd to April 5th in the morning. It will not be reasonable to come to a station if your train is not confirmed. That’s why we closed the bookings for the days of strike. When we see it more clearly, we will be able to reopen some of them “.
Say no to the reform of the SNCF
The CGT (1st group union), Unsa (2nd) and CFDT (4th) called the railway to strike from Monday at 19h until 08h Thursday. This is the first of the two-day strike notice that they could file until the end of June to oppose the reform of SNCF wanted by the government.
SUD Rail (3rd union) has also filed a notice of indefinite strike, renewable by 24 hours, which will begin at 8pm Monday.
In addition, Guillaume Pepy anticipated the difficulty of the succession of strike sequences. “Three days after the resumption of the traffic, a new strike sequence will start. This will completely disrupt production. Example: if the technical maintenance of a train can not be done because of the strike, it will not be able to roll anymore. And we will run out of equipment, “he said.
For her part, the Minister of Transport Elisabeth Borne, in an interview with the Parisian Sunday, raised the tone: “I say it clearly, nobody can understand that the unions of railroaders engage a long and penalizing strike while the government is in dialogue, “she said.
“I deplore frankly this strike very penalizing for travelers. It is incomprehensible that the unions remain in a blocking position that is not justified when we provide answers to the railway workers.”
The minister recalled that “there was never any question of going into force,” noting that the consultations are only halfway and that we start the parliamentary debate next week.
