The railway group SNCF has proposed a salary increase of 4.6% on average for the year 2024, including a 1.8% general increase. Additionally, the company committed to increasing low wages so that none of them is lower than 1.1 minimum wage and a value-sharing bonus of 400 euros to be paid to the group’s more than 140,000 railway workers. The CFDT-Cheminots and Unsa-Ferroviaire, two unions representing railway workers, have announced their intention to sign the agreement.
The CFDT-Cheminots stated in a press release that after consulting members and management structures, they are clear in their decision to sign the agreement. Unsa-Ferroviaire also indicated that it would also sign the agreement. These unions represent nearly half of the votes against SUD-Rail and CGT-Cheminots who are opposed to the agreement.
SUD-Rail has already announced its wish to “build a powerful mobilization” on the subject of wages, calling on SNCF management to “reopen negotiations” due to the weakness of their proposals. The CGT-Cheminots described the management’s proposals as “indecent and contemptuous in view of the accumulated salary dispute.”
The unions have until the evening of November 22 to sign the agreement. Without a majority, SNCF did not ensure that it would be applied in its entirety last year when only CFDT-Cheminots signed on salaries for 2023 but despite lack of majority SNCF applied planned measures anyway which was criticized by some trade union groups for being indecent and contemptuous towards their employees’ demands.