On six other lines, the service will only be insured at times of spikes. Agents require a rise in wages.
Le Monde with AFP
Eight lines of the Parisian metro closed, six other heavily impacted, not to mention the low frequency of RERs and random bus: the strike promes massive Friday, February 18 at the RATP, even though the recent teleworking boom could make it less painful for French users. “The RATP invites all travelers who have the opportunity to differ on the network”, advised the public group from Wednesday.
“In anticipation of the very strong disturbances announced on the lines operated by the RATP on Friday, February 18, Ile-de-France Mobilies calls all the Francilians who can to teletravel”, completed the regional transport authority. “We invite businesses to use as much as possible”, honored the Minister Delegate to Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari.
The Transportation Plan communicated by the RATP will recall to the December 2019 Francilians, and the great strike against pension reform, the last of scale, just before the pandemic and the massive entrance of teleworking in the life of employees.
Eight metro lines will be completely closed: the 2, 3bis, 5, 7bis, 8, 10, 11 and 12, besides the 3 in Havre-Caumartin and Gallieni, and the 6 between the Etoile and Bercy.
On lines 4, 7, 9, 13 and on the remaining portions of 3 and 6, traffic will only be insured for peak hours from 6:30 to 9:30 am and from 4:30 pm to 19 H 30, with a few at best, one in four at worst, and some stations will be closed, such as Alesia, Concorde, East Station, Clichy Place or Stalingrad.
RER strongly disturbed
The two automatic lines 1 and 14 will operate normally, the RATP, however, guard against a “risk of saturation”.
For the RER, the Régie provides a train over two hours at peak hours and one in three hours of off-peak hours, between 5:30 am and 8:30 pm, on its part of the lines A and B. The interconnection will be interrupted at Gare du Nord with trains from northern line, SNCF side.
Tram-side, the T8 will work normally, and the other lines will be more or less disturbed, T2, T3A and T3B circulating only at certain times on a part of their path.
As for the buses, some lines will operate normally (Orlybus and Roissybus, 20, 31, 35, 38, 45, 47, 54, 95, 101, 113, 124, 125, 131, etc.), others will be disturbed, others finally completely interrupted.
Ile-de-France Mobilities has put in place free carpooling, accessible from its application.
All representative trade union organizations (CGT, FO, UNSA, CFE-CGC) and almost all of others have called for a strike, to weigh on wage negotiations: a multilateral trading session is precisely planned Friday morning, as part of the obligatory annual negotiations (NAO). The RATP management promises that its employees will not lose purchasing power.
Inflation in question
It reaffirmed Monday a proposal for a 2.7% increase in remuneration on average in 2022, adding that “the profitant could be greater than that of previous years” (about 1,000 euros annual).
The trade union organizations have obviously not heard the same thing, since the leadership would have, according to them, put on the table that an increase of 0.4%. “Provocation”, according to them, after two years of pandemic during which the employees of the Régie responded present by ensuring the continuity of the public service. In addition, inflation that should exceed 3% in the first half according to INSEE.
“Yet the direction does the deaf ear,” said Bertrand Hammache, Secretary General of the CGT-RATP. The CGT, the Group’s first union, request 3% annual revaluation over the next three years. Same thing on the side of UNSA for whom 3% is a minimum in view of the level of inflation. FO has for its part deposited an “unlimited strike notice” from Friday, because “the inflation and the price of the energy that explode also are ravages”.
Explanation made, the 0.4% proposed by management concern only the transverse measures that affect all employees, to which the advancement and seniority must be added (+ 1.8% on average) and Categorical measures (+ 0.5%).