All SNCF trade unions called on Saturday for an indefinite strike starting Wednesday 11 December.
Unions demand a moratorium against the planned dismantling of Fret SNCF and to protest the terms of opening regional lines to competition.
Fret SNCF, the leading freight railway company in France, is set to disappear on 1 January next year and will be replaced by two distinct companies, Hexafret for freight transport and Technis for locomotive maintenance.
In a joint statement to AFP, the CGT-Cheminots, Unsa-Ferroviaire, Sud-Rail, and CFDT-Cheminots said the strike would be indefinite and renewable every 24 hours from 11th December at 19:00.
The unions also reiterated their call for a separate strike from Wednesday 20 November at 19:00. to Friday, 22nd November at 08:00.
Regarding the dismantling of Fret SNCF, the unions stated that implementing a moratorium is necessary to allow stakeholders to return to the negotiating table and find ways to ensure not only the continuity of Fret SNCF but also its long-term development.
"This moratorium is essential in light of the suffering of our colleagues at Fret," the unions argued.
In mid-December, the first SNCF Voyageurs workers will be transferred to SNCF subsidiaries created to bid for TER contracts initiated by regions opening their rail networks to competition.
The unions criticise this move as an "internal social dumping strategy," which they say will lead to the fragmentation of social rules within the many rail SMEs that SNCF plans to create for each competitive bid.
