EXPLAINED: The Spring rail strikes that could hit train services in France
This came after a rail union already filed a strike notice to begin industrial action from April 17th.
So what exactly are French rail unions threatening over the coming the weeks and what kind of disruption to train services could there be?
Here are the latest details.
When could there be strikes?
The gist is that two French rail unions so far - Sud-Rail and CGT Chéminots - have threatened strike action in the coming weeks.
From April 17th
- The Sud-Rail union's original strike notice (
préavis de grève
) covered weekends over the period of April 17th to June 2nd, according to
France Bleu.
The union specified that they could call strike action anytime after 7pm each Thursday to 8am the following Monday during the strike notice period, meaning the earliest hypothetical strike action could be over Easter weekend.
However, Sud-Rail has thus far focused its efforts on the month of May, and it has not made any mentions (at the time of writing) about strike action over the Easter holiday weekend. Nevertheless, it remains possible.
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From May 5th
- A second French union representing rail workers, CGT Chéminots, has also
called
for rail workers - including both ticket inspectors and train drivers - to begin walkouts starting on Monday, May 5th.
They have not specified an end-date.
As for Sud-Rail, the union has filed some
additional strike notices
during this period.
The first is from
Tuesday, May 6th
at 7pm to
Thursday, May 8th
at 8am. The union is calling for equipment workers (
les agents du Matériel
) to take part in a massive 'black' strike across the country.
For
Wednesday, May 7th
, a day that is expected to see heavy rail traffic as people make their getaway for the Thursday public holiday and the long weekend, Sud-Rail is currently calling for train drivers (ADCs,
agents de conduite
) to walk out.
For
May 9th, 10th and 11th
, Sud-Rail is separately calling for ticket inspectors and other rail personnel (
controleurs
) to strike.
When are the French public holidays?
As well as Easter weekend when Monday April 21st is a day off in France, there are three bank holidays during the month of May - Thursday, May 1st (May Day); Thursday, May 8th (VE Day); Thursday, May 29th (Ascension).
Many people use these as an opportunity to
'faire le pont'
and take a long weekend trip including the Friday, so it is a busy travel period.
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How likely are strikes?
As things stand, the French press has reported that unions are still negotiating with SNCF management, which means an agreement could be reached and the strikes could be called off.
SNCF Voyageurs CEO Christophe Fanichet told France Inter last week that "We have made some very concrete progress (...) and I am very confident that this social dialogue will enable all French people to travel with peace of mind in the coming weeks."
That said, if an agreement is not reached, the week of VE Day (May 8th) could involve significant travel disruption, with both unions planning strike action simultaneously.
How disruptive could the strikes be?
As with all French rail strikes, the exact level of disruption is unclear at this stage. A detailed strike timetable is usually released 48 hours in advance of each strike day on the SNCF-Connect website.
Any disruption would affect French national rail services, but not Eurostar routes. City public transport, as things stand, would not be unaffected.
As of 2024, according to
BFMTV
, CGT Chéminots is the largest union representing train drivers, followed by UNSA in second place and Sud-Rail in third place.
As such, if both unions call workers to walk out at the same time, strikes could be quite disruptive.
What are unions protesting?
Broadly, the dispute is linked to pay negotiations, working conditions, and unstable schedules.
Sud-Rail is calling for an end to last-minute schedule changes, as well as salary and bonus increases.
As for CGT Chéminots, the union is calling for an increase and overhaul of the 'traction' bonus for train drivers, as well as a work bonus for ticket inspectors. The union has also pushed back against the new tools required of ticket inspectors.
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