SNCF Strike: "We are far from a black week," says the CEO of SNCF Voyageurs

"TGV services will be normal from Monday, May 5 to Thursday, May 8," announced the CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, and for the ticket inspectors' strike on May 9, 10, and 11, most trains will run. "If we have to cancel some trains, we aim to offer each customer the option to travel to their destination on the scheduled day," promised Christophe Fanichet. Localized disruptions on certain regional lines or in the Ile-de-France region are also expected, he warned.

Several categories of staff are being called to strike starting Monday by the CGT-Cheminots and SUD-Rail unions to demand higher pay and better planning of schedules, which they say are too often changed at the last minute. For the May 8 bank holiday, an influential collective of controllers called the Collectif national ASCT (CNA) has joined the call for action, giving it momentum.

In addition to promising to transport everyone by train, Christophe Fanichet has committed to "ensuring that all customers are notified before leaving (on weekends, editor's note) about their return train." "That is to say, they must be notified before the start of the long weekend on Wednesday for services until Sunday, May 11," he explained.

"We are committed to giving our customers freedom and choice," added Mr. Fanichet. "I understand that some may be worried, and I am truly sorry that we are putting them in this difficult situation," apologized the head of the railway company. "Even if we manage to transport everyone, customers may prefer to cancel their trip (...). And so, as of now, all tickets are exchangeable, refundable, without fees," on both TGV Inoui and Ouigo, for the week of May 5 to 11, he announced.

"I said that we could not afford a strike and I confirm this, firstly because customers will try the competition (carpooling or the bus, or our rail competitors) and I do not want to give my customers the desire to look elsewhere," warned the manager.

"We already have thousands of fewer bookings for the May 8th bank holiday, SNCF bashing in the debates and customers who will think twice about their next vacation," he listed, without wanting to quantify the loss of earnings for the company.

"We have been clear and consistent since the beginning of the discussions we have had, we have given social dialogue every opportunity, we have held more than 35 meetings," he assured. "We have listened and acted, (...) we will provide clarity on the weekly rest periods for TGV train managers, at six months and no longer at three months," he promised. And the schedule management tool, which has been heavily criticized, will be adapted.

"On the other hand, we clearly said that on the remuneration, it would be no, because we did the job, more than 2.2% (average increase, editor's note) for 2025, it is much more than inflation," insisted the CEO. "In May, 1,300 euros gross profit-sharing will be paid to the 65,000 SNCF Voyageurs agents, including the train managers. So that's more than 100 euros per month over the year, thanks to this profit-sharing," also stressed Mr. Fanichet.