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French rail unions to stage waves of strikes from April to June

French rail workers have agreed to launch rolling strikes starting April 3 against the government's plan to overhaul the state-owned operator SNCF, the CGT union said on Thursday.

Published: 15 March 2018 22:16 CET

French rail unions to stage waves of strikes from April to June

The rolling strikes will be carried out on two days out of every five until June 28 unless the government drops its plan, which includes stripping new recruits of jobs-for-life and other benefits, the CGT said after a meeting of the company's four main unions.

“The unions see no will to negotiate on the part of the government… and take responsibility for an intense and long-lasting conflict,” Laurent Brun, head of the CGT Cheminots rail union, said.

The government plans to push through its reform plans by decree in the coming months to improve services that cost 30 percent more to operate than elsewhere in Europe.

It says it must move quickly to get the SNCF back on sound financial footing before passenger rail traffic across Europe is opened to competition next year.

“This is a necessary, indispensable reform,” Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne told BFM television on Thursday.

“My hope is not a test of strength, my hope is for negotiations.”

But unions say depriving new hires of a special status which offers job guarantees and extra pension rights is a red line.

They have already called for a nationwide strike on March 22.

The SNCF has a debt load of nearly 47 billion euros ($58 billion) and a huge pension burden — for decades drivers could retire in their early 50s.

The government hopes to introduce more flexibility in working conditions and contracts while pledging to invest 3.6 billion euros in infrastructure over the next 10 years.

The overhaul would also turn the SNCF into a publicly listed company, though the state would own 100 percent of the shares.

Could striking French rail unions leave France paralysed once again?

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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