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> I understand that you're claiming to have witnessed it, but do you have some sources? I have witnessed that and more like optimisation software being disable

> I understand that you're claiming to have witnessed it, but do you have some sources? I have witnessed that and more like optimisation software being disabled to avoid cutting into overtime. Just go take a look at how drivers are paid and where their comp comes from. It’s all public knowledge. Take a look at the recurring reports from the court of auditors or talk with anyone working there. We are talking about a company in which the two main unions are openly Trotskyist and which has a permanent strike warning by rotating between union to open one in defiance of French law. This is not drum beating for privatisation by the way (even if all the formerly public French companies I had the misfortune to work for are fairly mismanaged but nothing as bad as SNCF thankfully). I am sure with enough reforms it could work while being public. I mean Singapore manages so it’s not impossible. It’s just impossible to wonder why France is in such a sorry state after having working for anything publicly managed in France. The French state carves exception for itself in all the labour laws because they know their administration is so poor they can’t respect them.

inferiorhuman 2y ago
As an American reading this I feel like there's some nuance being lost in translation. Taken to their logical extremes we've seen what things like optimization software (East Palestine), banning strikes (PATCO and current ATC staffing woes), privatization (ATC again — see any video on youtube about the KSQL controller), and weak labor laws (pretty much every fatigue related crash e.g. Colgan Air) bring about. And it's not pretty. Certainly privatization can work. JR seems to have a decent reputation (obviously not without fault). But gaming things like overtime rules is a cultural problem, one that you're not going to solve with mandates or privatization. For quite a while the drivers at San Francisco's public transit agency were forbidden to strike. Instead you'd get sickouts and work slowdowns.
- RandomThoughts3 2y ago
  > As an American reading this The working conditions at SNCF are not even imaginable for an American. We are taking unlimited sick days, between 28 and 38 days off a year excluding sick days, 10 bank holidays, retirement between 50 and 60 with pensions calculated on the last few years of work, subvention on train tickets for family members. That’s while working less than 40 hours a week and despite that they still manage to strike at least a week a year generally when it’s the most annoying for people actually working.
  - simgt 2y ago
    > unlimited sick days Everyone with a French employment contract does > between 28 and 38 days off a year excluding sick days, 10 bank holidays 25 days is the legal minimum, more is common in many industries, including most engineering fields. Of course we all have the same bank holidays in the country. > retirement between 50 and 60 with pensions calculated on the last few years of work Yep, that's a good one. A relic from when their life expectancy was much shorter due to coal. Indeed that's hard to justify. > subvention on train tickets for family members Annoying too... but I'm not sure it's significant. > That’s while working less than 40 hours a week The legal working time in France is 35h/week, if you do more than that your employer must compensate in a way or another. That SNCF abides by that law isn't shocking, what is shocking is that our NHS doesn't. > they still manage to strike at least a week a year generally when it’s the most annoying for people actually working. The latest strike was about the freight branch that is being sold to competitors to please the EU commission... Not exactly a request for more champagne next to the coffee machine of the drivers. [0] I, too, dislike the SNCF because my trains are unreliable and expensive, and their customer support is absolute rubbish, but you clearly are arguing in bad faith and repeating whatever is in our current wave of reactionary media, all without having provided a single source yet. [0] https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2024/11/21/demantelement-de-fret-sncf-comprendre-les-raisons-de-la-colere-des-cheminots_6406236_4355770.html https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2024/11/21/dema...
    - RandomThoughts3 2y ago
      [flagged]

inferiorhuman 2y ago

As an American reading this I feel like there's some nuance being lost in translation. Taken to their logical extremes we've seen what things like optimization software (East Palestine), banning strikes (PATCO and current ATC staffing woes), privatization (ATC again — see any video on youtube about the KSQL controller), and weak labor laws (pretty much every fatigue related crash e.g. Colgan Air) bring about. And it's not pretty. Certainly privatization can work. JR seems to have a decent reputation (obviously not without fault). But gaming things like overtime rules is a cultural problem, one that you're not going to solve with mandates or privatization. For quite a while the drivers at San Francisco's public transit agency were forbidden to strike. Instead you'd get sickouts and work slowdowns.

RandomThoughts3 2y ago
> As an American reading this The working conditions at SNCF are not even imaginable for an American. We are taking unlimited sick days, between 28 and 38 days off a year excluding sick days, 10 bank holidays, retirement between 50 and 60 with pensions calculated on the last few years of work, subvention on train tickets for family members. That’s while working less than 40 hours a week and despite that they still manage to strike at least a week a year generally when it’s the most annoying for people actually working.
- simgt 2y ago
  > unlimited sick days Everyone with a French employment contract does > between 28 and 38 days off a year excluding sick days, 10 bank holidays 25 days is the legal minimum, more is common in many industries, including most engineering fields. Of course we all have the same bank holidays in the country. > retirement between 50 and 60 with pensions calculated on the last few years of work Yep, that's a good one. A relic from when their life expectancy was much shorter due to coal. Indeed that's hard to justify. > subvention on train tickets for family members Annoying too... but I'm not sure it's significant. > That’s while working less than 40 hours a week The legal working time in France is 35h/week, if you do more than that your employer must compensate in a way or another. That SNCF abides by that law isn't shocking, what is shocking is that our NHS doesn't. > they still manage to strike at least a week a year generally when it’s the most annoying for people actually working. The latest strike was about the freight branch that is being sold to competitors to please the EU commission... Not exactly a request for more champagne next to the coffee machine of the drivers. [0] I, too, dislike the SNCF because my trains are unreliable and expensive, and their customer support is absolute rubbish, but you clearly are arguing in bad faith and repeating whatever is in our current wave of reactionary media, all without having provided a single source yet. [0] https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2024/11/21/demantelement-de-fret-sncf-comprendre-les-raisons-de-la-colere-des-cheminots_6406236_4355770.html https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2024/11/21/dema...
  - RandomThoughts3 2y ago
    [flagged]