French rail unions threaten to strike ahead of Christmas

Trade unions at France's railway operator SNCF on Saturday called for an indefinite strike from next month that could disrupt train services during the upcoming Christmas holidays.

The unions are demanding a moratorium on the dismantling of Fret SNCF, the freight division of the national rail operator, and protesting against the terms and conditions for opening up regional lines to competition.

In a joint statement to AFP, the CGT-Cheminots, Unsa-Ferroviaire, Sud-Rail and CFDT-Cheminots unions said the action would begin on December 11.

The unions also reiterated their call for shorter strike action from November 20 to November 22.

Industrial action at SNCF has repeatedly disrupted travel during school holidays.

In February, train controllers went on strike during a holiday weekend, leaving 150,000 people stranded. A Christmas strike in December 2022 affected some 200,000 holidaymakers.

In 2023, the European Commission announced an in-depth investigation into whether France breached EU rules on state support by subsidizing the freight division of SNCF.

The French government launched a restructuring process which will see France's top rail freight company disappear on January 1, 2025 and be replaced by two separate companies, Hexafret and Technis.

The plan was negotiated by the French government and the European Commission to avoid a reorganization procedure that could have led to the outright liquidation of the company, which employs 5,000 people.

In their statement, the trade unions "reaffirm that a moratorium is possible and necessary to allow the various players to get back to the table and find ways of guaranteeing not only the continuity of Fret SNCF, but also its development over the longer term."