On the evening of Friday April 14, 2023, Emmanuel Macron promulgated the text of the pension reform after its validation by the Constitutional Council. Indeed, the Elders accepted most of the law, including the postponement of the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. Nevertheless, the latter have censored certain measures such as the Senior CDI and the Senior Index, defended by Les Républicains as “social” articles.
This decision angered the unions, as well as elected officials opposing the pension reform carried out by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. Thus, the inter-union calls for a new day of mobilization strike for May 1, 2023. Nevertheless, the CGT has called for two new days of strike for Thursday April 20 and Thursday April 28 next. The first of them is considered a “day of expression of railway anger”. Who exactly does it concern?
At the time of the verdict of the Constitutional Council, mobilizations were improvised to protest against this decision. Asked at the microphone of BFMTV during this meeting, Sophie Binet, secretary general of the CGT, announced that the intersyndicale “give[ed] an appointment to all French men and women on May 1”. She then evoked an “unprecedented exceptional mobilization for a popular tidal wave”.
The unions therefore do not intend to give up and wish to continue to mobilize until the withdrawal of this reform. Other actions and strikes will be organized at the local level in the two weeks preceding this new general and national strike day. The CGT also evoked “highlights” of protest on April 20 and 28, 2023. Indeed, between “today and May 1, several mobilizations, actions, strikes and demonstrations will exist and will participate in pushing back the government”, evoked Thomas Vacheron, member of the confederal office of the CGT, to FranceInfo on Sunday April 16. What will be the extent of these days of mobilizations?
The four SNCF unions responded positively and in turn called for “a day of expression of railway anger”. The rail network will therefore be very disrupted on April 20 and 28. This day was chosen specifically because it precedes school holidays in the Paris region as well as those in Occitania. Even more, it is the only weekend bringing together the departures and returns from vacation of the three zones.
Thomas Vacheron spoke of “a stage of preparation” for the next day of general mobilization, Labor Day. For the day of April 28, the unions want to focus on the subject of pensions, but also on “deaths at work”, he specifies. But, what impact will the day of April 20 have on SNCF traffic?
Very disrupted traffic is announced for Thursday April 20, 2023. In addition, Tuesday April 18 and 19 will also be affected by the “national interprofessional social movement and production constraints”, as the SNCF announces on its site. The TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes network is notably disrupted the two days preceding the mobilization day.
However, no specific program has yet been announced on the SNCF website. This usually occurs 24 to 48 hours before the start of the movement. If you had a TGV scheduled for this date, you will normally receive an email or an SMS telling you that it has been cancelled. For the TER, it will be necessary to wait until the day before at 5 p.m. to know the traffic schedule. To follow RER and Intercités traffic, you can go to the SNCF website or download the corresponding application.
For your TGV, you can also call the following number: 0 805 90 36 35. This number can also be used for communication on RER traffic in the Paris suburbs.
