European Railroad Discussion > French railway workers fear competition

SNCF railway workers today are continuing their strikes which began last week to protest a call by French President Emmanuel Macron’s call to make drastic cost-cutting measures as EU countries prepare to open railroad passenger services to competition. News reports describe the French passenger system as “debt-laden”. Workers fear they will lose jobs and traditional benefits such as jobs-for-life and early retirement plans.

I never had a job for life or early retirement plan. But somehow managed to do OK. Competition is a good thing. It can lower costs for consumers. According to the BBC, French rail workers receive guaranteed raises every year, no matter the economy or how business is faring. Must be nice.

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> I never had a job for life or early retirement
> plan. But somehow managed to do OK. Competition
> is a good thing. It can lower costs for consumers.
> According to the BBC, French rail workers receive
> guaranteed raises every year, no matter the
> economy or how business is faring. Must be nice.

Ya don't know what you're missing, oh well.

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> I never had a job for life or early retirement
> plan. But somehow managed to do OK. Competition
> is a good thing. It can lower costs for consumers.
> According to the BBC, French rail workers receive
> guaranteed raises every year, no matter the
> economy or how business is faring. Must be nice.

Retiring at 52 can't be bad either...

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> I never had a job for life or early retirement
> plan. But somehow managed to do OK.

That's because you're not French!

I remember sometime in 1996 when I was on an assignment in Amsterdam. I had a meeting in Paris and a colleague and I decided, since it coincided with the final week of operation of the SNCF Étoile du Nord (and its Budd-licensed rolling stock) that we would take it even though it was expensive and, by this time, pretty service-worn. The first problem was that the restaurant car had run out of everything except one fish dish that was [1] expensive and [2] a disgrace to French cooking. Just as we were finishing lunch, an announcement was made that SNCF in the Paris Region was on strike so we would be stopping at some unknown point a half-hour or so out of Paris where we were made to get off and, they thought, there would be a commuter train at some point to take us on into Paris. There was, eventually, and we did finally make it to where we were going, but . . . .

Gordon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/18 16:10 by gbmott.

The French railroader killed the introduction of automatic couplers in the late 1980es in an effort to preserve jobs in the yards. Freight has since dropped substantially and most of those jobs have been eliminated. Looks like they do have a very shallow learning curve.....

Thomas Eckhardt

Uhm. There's a really good reason why people try to find one of these jobs for life, it's because they want a job for life. Hopefully, as in my case, even if you are a public employee you plan ahead for if your job changes, becomes privatized, or simply gets eliminated. Unsure how striking will help these workers?

Interesting how they are striking though, they are taking two consecutive days out of five and doing them in a rotation. Not every train is cancelled but so many that it will be almost impossible to make certain trips in France, and even getting around Paris on the Translien trains. There are a number of bus services now in France that weren't even there five years ago. I was surprised that Ouibus still had seats for €15 from Lyon to Nancy on Thursday April 19th on a trip that will work to replace a cancelled sncf train.

Jim

tq-07fan Wrote:
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> Unsure how striking
> will help these workers?

That's easy Jim, it's always worked before. Macron is the third president this century to take on the public service unions in an attempt to liberalise public services. To date the score is Unions 2 Presidents 0. Will this be different? I guess it depends on who wins the PR battle and how long Parisien commuters are willing to put up with disruption.

That's correct. Public opinion before the strikes was solidly for reform but as people start feeling the pain it will be interesting to see whether that remains the case. Also, those hardest hit are Paris commuters and Paris has outsized influence with government.

Gordon

If your Head of State was actively trying to take your livelihood away, I doubt that you would support that, either. The difference is that the French will take on the establishment, the Americans just accept BOHICA.

NormSchultze Wrote:
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> If your Head of State was actively trying to take
> your livelihood away, I doubt that you would
> support that, either. The difference is that the
> French will take on the establishment, the
> Americans just accept BOHICA.


Yes, good work if you can get it. Not many can.
There are now 250,000 French in London alone.
Equivalent to France's 6th largest city.
Bought a play ticket from one last year. Asked her why she was in the UK.
No work in France she said.

NormSchultze Wrote:
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> If your Head of State was actively trying to take
> your livelihood away, I doubt that you would
> support that, either. The difference is that the
> French will take on the establishment, the
> Americans just accept BOHICA.

It's not quite so simple. First, the current proposal would only apply to new hires; current employees would not be affected. Secondly, the intention to begin opening the passenger services to competition is a mandate of the EU; most other European administrations have already complied. Third, SNCF is absolutely mired in debt, in part because their labor costs are way out of line compared to, for example, DB.

I think to say that the Head of State is trying to take away anyone's livelihood is being a little dramatic.

Gordon

New Hires today, the rest of you tomorrow. It's an old trick, and the French aren't buying it. How is that Cut, cut, cut working out for those grain growers in the "Great White North"? Or in Houston ? You can't cut to prosperity, Never has worked in the long term.

And what is wrong with having job security and benefits?

Margaret_SP_fan Wrote:
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> And what is wrong with having job security and
> benefits?

LOL...because it could be some kinda "commie" plot to keep billionaires from making the monthly rent.

Of course, U.S. railroad labor also fought the elimination of the caboose and the fireman position.

Without wishing to be too controversial, I suppose that intense conflicts and strikes in France are part of the culture in the same way that strict alcohol rules or guns are in the US.

There is a general question as to whether the French approach to life is in any way "superior" or indeed legitimately different to others, as well as the particular issue as to whether the French railwaymen are better or worse than other employed groups in France.

For many years French hourly wage rates have been similar to those in the US, but they have chosen to take their productivity in the form of extra leisure rather than extra work. While there is no right and wrong about this, it is striking that the supposedly richest nation in the world has the shortest holidays. It strikes me that "you pays your money and takes your choice", provided that choice is conscious and explicit.