Over the months and mobilizations, he made his nest in the rail union landscape. By joining the call for the bridge strike of 8-May, launched a few weeks earlier by Sud-Rail and the CGT-Ferrovia, an informal group of controllers, the National ASCT collective, again immersed in the standoff opposing unions and direction. He had indeed been at the origin of the last two major social movements at the SNCF in December 2022 and February 2024.
The CGT-Cheminots, the first union organization at the SNCF, requires a revaluation of the work premium as well as a overhaul of the organization of the schedules, too often modified at the last minute. She is joined on this point by Sud-Rail, third union organization within the group, and the National ASCT collective, which rsFlumming better predictability of the schedules as well as an increase of 100 euros per month of the work bonus. A flaw recognized by The CEO of the rail group in person, Jean-Pierre Farandou, who admitted planning problems.
From the beginning of April, the collective of controllers had announced that it was counted “Press the mobilization dates provided by Sud-Rail on May 9, 10 and 11, 2025”prolonged weekend dates where many users take the train. Not being a union, the informal group is not authorized to carry out social dialogue, unlike Sud-Rail and the CGT-Cheminots, and must therefore be grafted to an existing strike notice to join the mobilization.
This is why the National ASCT collective, which claims “Apolitical and not unionized”gradually approached Sud-Rail. “For institutional reasons, this collective of controllers could not ignore the unions. Conversely, the unions could not ignore the dispute carried by the collective”continues Stéphane Sirot, historian specializing in social movements, questioned by Marianne In 2024. “We have our own controllers’ authorities but our demands go in the same direction”justifies Fabien Villedieu, federal secretary of Sud-Rail, in The same weekly.
It must be said that the collective now weighs heavy in the dispute and has 4,000 to 5,000 members on its WhatsApp and Telegram loops on the 8,000 controllers in the company, according to The world. “The collective made it possible to highlight all the complexity of our profession and to federate at the national level, because the unions anymore”explained a chief of board at France 2 during the mobilization of 2022.
The Christmas and New Year strike, which had blocked some 200,000 travelers, left traces in the management of the SNCF. The controllers had ended up winning, with the creation of a “Directorate of chiefs” In order to be more attentive to the issues of chiefs. They then managed to increase the amount of their premium and received a commitment from the Management to hire more controllers in 2023.
In 2024, as the February holidays approach, SNCF leaders had done everything to avoid a new paralysis in transport. Fearing that unions would be overwhelmed by the controllers, they had agreed to grant new bonuses and additional hires. A year later, the call for strike finally came from the unions, which failed to find compromise with the management of the SNCF on wages and the demand for better working conditions. This leaves the possibility of disturbances in transport from Monday May 5 until Sunday, May 11.
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