The suffering of the French from the train strikes is at its zenith – The situation normalizes in the New Year

We lost Christmas, but we won New Years. With these words of relative relief, the management of the state-owned company of French railways welcomed the agreement that was reached “at arm’s length” with the unions. A deal that does not prevent the French from suffering at Christmas, but will allow them to travel by rail – the main form of transport in France during the festive season – on New Year’s Eve and the first few days of the year. The truth is that in the run-up to Christmas the suffering, if not the despair of the French, had reached its zenith. On Friday, one in three trains did not start as the conductors’ union is on strike. The result of this strike is that approximately 200,000 French people remain with their suitcases on the docks, with all the inconvenience and irritation this entails. The strikes on French railways were started in September by a collective of inspectors created on Facebook. This collective then left the negotiations to the unions.

In the last few days, however, the strikes intensified and the government, for its part, increased the pressure on the unions. French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said he was angry, but at the same time inclined to listen to the demands of the strikers. Thus, yesterday it was agreed to create a committee which will examine whether and how the particularities of the profession can be recognized. It was also agreed that the auditors’ bonus could be increased from 600 euros, which was provided for in an earlier agreement, to 720 euros. Also, the company’s management has committed to hiring another 200 auditors in 2023, in addition to the 350 already planned. “All conditions are now met” for a return to work, both the company and rail unions argued after the deal was signed. Finally good, everything is almost good.

RES-EMP

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