Strikes again

[Joseph_Pestell]

Just listening to BBC lunchtime news.

 

Day 1 of what is planned to be 3 months of strikes on French railways - 2 days in every 5.

 

Not to get political, but can the railway as we know it, already very much under threat, survive that?

[Oldddudders]

Just listening to BBC lunchtime news.

 

Day 1 of what is planned to be 3 months of strikes on French railways - 2 days in every 5.

 

Not to get political, but can the railway as we know it, already very much under threat, survive that?

Dashed inconvenient, as I have just booked my next four Eurostar trips, all within that period, and I live about 120 miles from Paris.

[Foulounoux]

With our local line closed for emergency work .. Track gauge issue. So when we get there this week I will be able to observe the French equivalent of a rail replacement bus service

 

The local press report nearly 200m€ needed and the concern is that with the strike the calculation will be made to mothball the line

[ColinK]

I often wonder if it would be easier if they listed the days in France when nobody is on strike.

[Foulounoux]

I often wonder if it would be easier if they listed the days in France when nobody is on strike.

 

There is a handy website to let you know what's not working and where :-)

Cestlagreve.fr

[olivegreen]

I often wonder if it would be easier if they listed the days in France when nobody is on strike.

 

No need to: most already know that the answer is zero.  (or very near to zero).

[Mike Storey]

I have just spent a formidable hour or so, listening to the pronouncement of Daily Mail headlines, as fact, from a number of holiday homers here, listened to intently by a number of expat residents, who can't be bothered to read the detail published about the dispute in the local or national press. I have just read through a very good analysis by La Vie du Rail (the equivalent of Rail News here), and was seething with the ignorance on both sides.

 

French Railways are crap, unless you are on a TGV route. That is beyond any rational dispute. Even the RER routes and some of the longer distance commuting routes into Paris, are delivering reliability results that make UK railways seem hyper efficient. Much of the blame is attached to the accumulated debt, of SNCF Reseau (the equivalent of Network Rail) but it is no greater than Network Rail's, and Network Rail are not actively trying to shut an enormous number of secondary routes down, on the basis that they are too expensive to maintain or repair.

 

SNCF needs radical overhaul, not just financially, because the reality of open access will hit them within a couple of years. The Headlines have been about the allowable retirement age of SNCF drivers, at 52, and other staff at 57. That, along with some lesser issues, has been the basis of the strikes and demonstrations. But in reality, that does not mean with a full pension. Apparently, youngsters are joining SNCF later than they used to, and it takes 41 years and 9 months service to reach a full pension entitlement (40 years in the current British equivalent) so that staff are retiring later and later anyway. In a few years, due to changes in the regime (*extant, not proposed) it will take closer to 45 years. So the strikes are about something that does not actually exist. The proposal by Macron's government, simply moves the age by which someone can retire as by right (albeit with a reduced pension), progressively later, and only for people joining now - it does not affect existing employees. 

 

On the other hand, SNCF are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit staff anyway, despite the advertised "benefits". This seems strange at first sight. France has a high unemployment rate (albeit it has just dropped an entire 1% in a quarter - a figure rarely achieved by other economies) so one would imagine a cosy railway sinecure would have long queues at the door. But no. Most of the reducing number of applicants for drivers' roles, if they get through the initial sifting process, fail the medical. So the Unions' arguments point out this fact against the government's desire to make the job even less attractive. But they are missing the point.

 

SNCF will die slowly, and then quickly, once competition opens up the farce of its track charging regime. Many rural lines have just two or three trains a day, because it is so expensive to run any more than that (they prefer to lay on buses rather than do that.) The clockwork timetable is something that only exists in Paris and perhaps one or two major cities. If the company has such a poor reputation and such a poor capability to do anything other than run a few high speed routes, who would want to work for it. The reforms are vital to ensure costs become more flexible and manageable. The Unions call it the "Uber-risation" of the railways. Less than 40% of the French public support the Unions on the issue. Very different from 1995 (or indeed 1968, with which the Front National are striving to compare it). Indeed, they are using the Margaret Macron tag, after Thatcher (whom most French despise even this time later). But there is no suggestion of reducing union rights, and there is a comprehensive proposal to clamp down on the widespread use of French companies' use of temporary contracts (McDonalds are amongst the worst for this). Interesting times, but as railway enthusiasts, we owe a duty to understand the basis of the strikes, not just their inconvenience.

 

Alternative views welcomed!!

[Jim Martin]

Thanks for that: it was very illuminating. I am still, after almost 40 years, a Guardian reader (albeit with greatly-diminished enthusiasm in recent years) and that paper's coverage of the strikes has been notable for the huge amount of projection of British political prejudices on to the dispute (by both sides).

 

Jim

Edited May 5, 2018 by Jim Martin

[Foulounoux]

It seems Air France may beat SNCF to the lemmings off a cliff moment

 

That may actually sharpen minds on both sides of the dispute when they see a national carrier go under

 

Colin

[Mike Storey]

It's all gone very quiet on the SNCF strike front from the French media. The two most left-wing unions vowed to fight on, and announced more two-day strikes in the summer, the first being last Friday and Saturday, but the other unions have all  agreed to finish striking and see what negotiations bring, probably in September onwards. They say they are ready to resume if there are insufficient compromises. Most have acknowledged that the reforms have now become law through the French parliamentary process (last month), in both houses, but CGT and SUD are determined to face down any and all reforms by the Macron government.

 

What surprises me is that only c.8% of French rail workers were on strike during the last two day stoppage in June (from around 34% at the start of the strikes), which included only about c.35% of Conductors, and that 4 out of 5 TGV's ran, and 3 out of 5 regional and TER trains (with regional variations of course). Worst hit overall was the Paris suburban system. But with only two unions, albeit with significant membership, now striking, one would assume those numbers will improve even further. Of note is that the "strike fund" set up by philosophers and intellectuals to support payments to strikers, losing up to 8 days pay a month, has now closed, and raised only 34 euros per striker (total 1 million euros). Contrast that with one of the larger unions, CFDT, who had 123 million euros available for its members, but is no longer striking. SUD rail union has just 73,000 euros to carry on. CGT does not appear to have much either, and some members are saying they will sell their cars etc to carry on the fight. This is despite between 72% and 88% (depending on which poll you believe) of the French public no longer supporting their cause. Even the ever-opportunistic Mme Le Pen has stopped trying to pretend any support (whilst she fights her own battles against illegal use of EU funds).

 

So it is unclear just how much effect these further strikes will have, just how long the remaining members can financially carry on, just what damage to the long term finances and customer demand for French rail travel has been, and how a small politically driven pair of unions can justify the further damage they are causing, given the public and staff majorities against them. Truly a turning point for French society as well as for their railways now.

 

Meanwhile, the SNCF French Rail web site continues to state that coach travel is really good and advertises their OuiBus system with gay abandon. So weird.

[Andy Hayter]

I am not surprised Mike.  It is holiday time and despite the unions saying that they did not want to disrupt the public on their holidays, that should be read as they did not want to upset their own holiday plans - largely built around free or sunsidised rail travel  As for not striking in June, who wants to go on holiday with a depleted wallet?

 

But you are right that generally the mood has changed and it will be interesting to see what comes in September.

[Focalplane]

During the period of the strikes I did not take one train journey - I remember the last series of strikes around 2009 and being pushed into a TGV at Béziers along with many other sardines.  But earlier this month I did take a TGV from Paris to Narbonne.  The train ran late (but not significantly) while the clim was hardly working and there was no power in the at-seat sockets.  The wi-fi did, however, function, at least until my iPad ran out of power.  No-one checked my ticket on a 5 hour journey!

 

I am not one to slag off SNCF as they generally provide a good service, but it is getting harder for me to want to continue taking the train.

 

Paul

[Oldddudders]

The strikes crossed my path a couple of times, causing a change of plans. For the first time in nearly 20 years, I missed the Le Mans Test Weekend, because my booking on Eurostar was on a strike day and I did not relish being stuck in Paris on a night that zillions of others were. I live more than 30 miles from Le Mans, so even getting home had I got there was dodgy/exorbitant.

 

As for ticket checks, my journeys to and from Paris on the TER invariably witness uniformed SNCF staff parading up and down the train - but not inspecting tickets.