The strike

• railworkers refuse to see their pension reduced by 20 to 30%!
• railworkers are opposed to Fillon’s new plan which foresees us making 40 years pension contributions in 2007, and then increasing everybody to 41 years in 2008.
• railworkers are resisting and have shown that nothing is inevitable.

The government and SNCF management initially wanted to deny the strike was happening: last week Guillaume Pépy (Chief Executive of SNCF) was still claiming "one train in two, one train out of three" would run. They knew the reality of the strike mobilisation but tried to give out false information. Given the scale of the strike movement, they changed tactics and decided to stick their heads in the sand until the end of the day on 18 October.

And what should we choose?

• Should we simply say that we did not accept the project?
• Should we conclude it is necessary to keep up pressure on the unions to call new action in November?
• Or, should we decide:
➢ Based on the balance of power established on Oct. 18 to continue after Oct. 19?
➢ To control the strikes ourselves in our general assemblies?
➢ To ask the trade union federations to support us and coordinate our fight?

We have our future in hands!

SUD believes it is more effective to keep the momentum going, to keep up the pressure, to force the government to withdraw their project and keep negotiations under the control of the strikers.

That's what we did in 1995 ... And we won. The tactic of "shows of strength" 24-hour strikes followed in 2003, and we lost. All opinions should be respected and allow General Assemblies to speak, listen, discuss and decide.

The SUD, FO, FGAAC federations served notice of all-out strike action that allows railworkers to determine the next step. The CGT, CFDT, CFTC did the same in several regions.

Railworkers, your strike belongs to you!

73.6% of strikers according to management’s figures.

This is the figure provided by the SNCF management, and it covers the entire workforce: all regions and headquarters offices, operations, control, supervisors and managers.

➢ This number of strikers is the highest at SNCF for many decades.
➢ It is 10% above the highest day of the strike movement in 1995.

It would be a terrible waste to stop that now!

A determined government ?

The government wants to reiterate that it "will not yield." Who thought he would say anything else on the evening of 18 October? Villepin repeated the same for days before abandoning the CPE (Youth Employment Scheme) in 2006, Juppe had done the same in 1995, some of us remember Dupuy ardently defending his merit "grid" in December 1986, ...

Government and SNCF Executives have never surrendered on matters of such importance after a 24-hour strike.

The strength of our strike allows us to win, if we choose to go there, to "put the nail in the coffin” now.

We are not on strike to demand that the Ministry or SNCF Board re-explain to the trade unions how they will get rid of our special schemes.

We want this project abandoned and negotiations to improve the pension plan for all workers!

The SUD, FO and FGAAC union federations have called for the strike movement to be decided by General Assemblies.

On the ground unity exists!

The all-out strike has also been agreed at RATP (many subway lines, RER A and B, bus depots)

SNCF managers don’t have to sell UMP policies

(Union for a Popular Movement - Union pour un Mouvement Populaire - the political party of French President, Nicolas Sarkozy).

A special feature of October 18, is the very high participation of managers in the strike. We know that pressures on them are strong; SUD-Rail calls on managerial staff to remain in solidarity and to refuse to play the role of strike breakers as the SNCF Board would like.

The General Assemblies on Oct. 18.

Since the 18, General Assemblies have been held right across the SNCF network. Bringing together an important number of railworkers, the General Assemblies voted massively to continue the strikes in: * Sotteville les Rouen Dépôt, * Rouen Trains, * Rouen Gare, * Le Havre Dépôt, * Paris Nord Dépôt, * Moulin Neuf, * Oise Dépôt, * Paris Gare du Nord, * Paris Gare de Lyon, * Paris Sud Est Dépôt, * Melun, * Laroche, * Marseille Dépôt, * Avignon, * Toulon, *Nice Dépôt, * Paris Austerlitz, * Versailles, * Brétigny, * Paris Montparnasse, * Juvisy, * Chartres, * Dreux, * Trappes, * Reims Trains, * Toulouse, * Montauban, * Pamiers, * Paris Est, * Vaires, * Noisy, * Coulommiers, * Château Thierry, * Nevers, * Lille Délivrance, * Aulnoye, * Somain, * Calais, * Grande Synthe, * Fives, * Saint Etienne, * Lyon Dépôt Mouche, * Lyon Perrache, * Lyon Venissieux, * Sibelin * Chambéry, * Nantes, * Amiens, * Paris Saint Lazare, * Achères, * Mantes, * Pontarlier, * Hourcade, * Bergerac, * Bordeaux Matériel, * Bordeaux Traction, * Tours Trains, * Thionville/Woippy, * ...

NB: Incomplete list: we are waiting for updates, and several General Assemblies that were held finished after midday.