French rail strike: unions lift their new year’s weekend strike notice

THIS MEANS THERE SHOULD BE NO ACTION TAKEN NEXT WEEKEND, BUT THIS WEEKEND’S STRIKE WILL STILL CONTINUE French rail unions have lifted the strike notice they had issued for the weekend of New

Year’s Day (December 31-January 1), after accepting a proposal on pay and working conditions put forward by SNCF management last night (December 22). SNCF has said that its offer contains

“strong measures” for a “real recognition of the ticket inspector profession”. The national rail operator has now said that: “Everything has now come together to enable all ticket inspectors

to come back to work.” READ MORE: FRANCE RAIL STRIKES: UNIONS HAVE UNTIL MIDDAY TO RESPOND TO SNCF OFFER However, this agreement does not change anything for this Christmas weekend, when

another strike is causing widespread cancellations. Today (December 23), one in three trains are cancelled on average, while on Saturday and Sunday it will be two in five. READ MORE: FRANCE

RAIL STRIKES: TWO IN FIVE TGV TRAINS CANCELLED THIS WEEKEND COMPENSATION CLAIM FORM LAUNCHED SNCF has previously said that anyone whose train is cancelled because of the strike, or who has

to change their journey plans because of the disruption, will be entitled to compensation equating to 200% of the original cost of their ticket. READ MORE: FRENCH CHRISTMAS RAIL STRIKES:

200% TICKET REFUNDS FOR CANCELLATIONS This is in addition to a full refund if your train is cancelled between today and December 26, or a free exchange if you decide to swap to a different

service. The compensation will take the form of a voucher, and claims can be made online on this page. The above link will take you to a private chat function to which you can explain your

situation. You can fill in the reason for your compensation request, the date of your booked journey and whether your original ticket has been cancelled or exchanged. The chatbot will then

send you to the claim form, which can also be accessed directly here. You can also send an email to the customer service department, but the “processing time will be lengthened” because of

the strike. SNCF has said that people whose Ouigo service has been cancelled should receive compensation automatically to the email address they entered to receive their ticket. WHY IS THE

STRIKE HAPPENING? Ticket inspectors are protesting against their current pay and career progression. A strike notice was issued by the CGT and SUD-Rail unions for December 23-26 and December

30-January 2. The CFDT and Unsa unions did not issue a strike notice. CGT and SUD-Rail did not actively call on their members to strike, but until now did not retract their notices, leaving

it up to workers whether they choose to take action or not. The possibility of a strike emerged from a Facebook group uniting 3,500 of France’s 10,000 ticket inspectors, called le Collectif

ACST. SNCF had already proposed a ‘_prime de travail_’ bonus of €600 per year, as well as an additional €600 gross bonus before the strike began. Its offer was accepted by the CFDT and Unsa

unions, and was the reason why CGT and SUD-Rail did not actively call their members to strike. SNCF bosses met with union leaders over video call last night, and proposed “strong

supplementary measures in recognition of the ticket inspector profession, the creation of new positions and more career progression”. RELATED ARTICLES AIR FRANCE PROMISES THAT ALL FLIGHTS

WILL RUN TOMORROW DESPITE STRIKE