On the lines to Switzerland, only one train out of three is running, according to the French rail operator SNCF. Train conductors have stopped work throughout the weekend, with a “gradual resumption” envisaged Monday, to demand better recognition of their status.
The almost 10,000 conductors of the SNCF, of which nearly 3,000 work on the TGV and Intercity trains, have an essential function in terms of traffic and passenger safety. Without them, trains cannot run. Nearly 60% of TGV and Intercity trains have been cancelled.
“It is a strike that we did not see coming, neither we nor the unions,” said the CEO of the SNCF Jean-Pierre Farandou on Thursday. The conductors’ union had met with the management twice without concrete progress, before putting its threat of strike into execution.
The unions, in support of the conductors’ grievances, have filed a strike notice for the Christmas and New Year weekends to put pressure on the SNCF. This strike also comes before the start of mandatory annual salary negotiations between SNCF and the French rail unions, which begin Wednesday.
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