2024 Olympics: “No particular risks” of strike, says SNCF CEO
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Four months before the deadline, he is “not pessimistic at all”. Asked about possible threats of a railway workers’ strike which would weigh on the Paris Olympic Games, which will begin at the end of July, the CEO of SNCF assured this Friday on BFMTV and RMC that he did not see any “particular risks” on this subject. As for bonuses for staff mobilized during the event, Jean-Pierre Farandou hopes for an agreement “in May or June”.
“We talk. We have also launched a working group since November, with the four representative trade union organizations. We see each other every month and we move forward,” said Jean-Pierre Farandou, describing himself as “tireless in social dialogue”. “At this stage, regarding the Olympics themselves, I don’t see no particular risksI have no particular alert,” he assured, while the CGT, for example, announced strike notices covering the period of the Games (July 26-August 11) for the civil service and the RATP.
“We discuss it calmly”
A whole part of these exchanges is devoted to the organization of the railway company during the competitions: the management “shares the level of preparation (…) in complete transparency” with the unions, he guaranteed. The question of bonuses for employees mobilized during the period is also addressed. “We have put proposals on the table, they are currently being discussed,” he said.
Until then, the railway company had indicated that it was offering employees mobilized during the Games period a bonus of 50 euros per day and an additional bonus of 200 to 500 euros depending on the period when they take their leave. Asked about the exact amount proposed, in particular by comparison with the bonus promised to police officers in particular, around 1,500 euros, Jean-Pierre Farandou confirmed that “we are in that order”, without further details. The unions were skeptical about this figure, corresponding to the maximum amount of cumulative bonuses, according to them being difficult to achieve or reserved for a small minority.
“We are discussing it calmly, and I think that we will be able to converge in May or June,” said the boss of the railway company. An optimism reinforced according to him by visits “on the ground”: “I can tell you that the railway workers want it to succeed. (…) They are super mobilized, they want to be useful to the country and make sure that the Olympics work at the SNCF,” he insisted.
He also regretted the “method” of the unions who raised the possibility of a strike, giving, according to him, “notice of notice”, putting himself “under the threat of a strike which annoys the French”. “I do social dialogue for real, seriously,” he insisted. He mentioned in passing “two draft agreements” which will be “presented at the beginning of April”, one on the end of the careers of railway workers and on employment, insisting that “social dialogue works”.
Already “more than two million tickets” sold for the summer
Jean-Pierre Farandou also assured that the SNCF plans to “start sales at the lowest prices” for journeys during the Olympics. “We still care about our customers,” he assured. He also reported that “more than two million tickets” had already been sold for this summer, or “10% of the places”.
As for prices, it is “still possible to have moderate prices,” he assured. If they can be high “when we take them at the last moment”, “when we do it now, we can have very low prices”, he underlined, “particularly on Ouigo”. Also on Inoui, “three months in advance, you basically have a 45% reduction, 35% two months in advance, 25% one month in advance,” he continued.
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