“We want more buses and more drivers! »
Friday, September 23, well before dawn, at the initiative of the CGT and FO, pickets were set up to block buses from the four depots in the city: 85% of drivers decided to participate in the movement, followed in number by those of the trams.
Near the pallets that are burning to withstand the cold, Nicolas, CGT delegate from the Saint-Pierre depot, says: “Management policy has a direct impact on our working conditions, this is no longer possible, so we have issued a strike notice! »
The organization and management of public transport in Marseilles, in the same way as that of the collection of household waste, are also part of the great scandals of the city. This, to the detriment of those who make them work, but also to the detriment of the people of Marseille for whom getting around the city is an obstacle course, and in particular from outlying and isolated neighborhoods.
The summer season has been an accelerator of the transport crisis: buses cancelled, cancelled, crowded. All due to a structural and increasingly worrying lack of staff: “We want more buses and more drivers! » says Sherif, who has worked for the RTM for 23 years. “We counted up to sixty uninsured bus tours per day in certain areas, a real break in the public service” declare another striker on our microphone.
For Nicolas, this management of public transport has the consequence of breaking working conditions. Reducing line times to unachievable times shortens the drivers’ rare breaks and increases production rates, even more so for those on fixed-term contracts. These conditions also endanger the passengers at the same time.
For the CGT union representative: “The demand is growing, and the management refuses to hire more drivers, despite many surpluses, even during the Covid period! ». He pursues : “It has been 8 years since there has been the mandatory annual meeting between management and the trade unions. They are there to ensure the safety of employees. It’s against the law, we had no choice but to go on strike! »
Work rates are at the heart of the demands of the strikers, but also and above all, they are leading a battle for another public service, ecological and accessible to all. For Boris, who has worked for the RTM for 25 years: “At a time of ecological transition where we are asked to be reasonable in our transport, on an offer that is bad! They are sabotaging the public service! ». And the first affected by these degradations are the northern districts of the city. For Nicolas, the management is gradually deciding to abandon these sectors which are nevertheless the most populated.
While local elected officials spread again and again “no more buses, no more transport for the northern districts”, the reality on the ground is quite different. While the tramway is planned as far as the Catalans district, the popular option which consisted in imposing it as far as the northern districts only serves for a morbid instrumentalization: Benoit Payant, the mayor of Marseilles who pretends to want to open up working-class neighborhoods, caused a false showdown on this issue with Martine Vassal who heads the Aix-Marseille metropolis. In the shadow of their respective announcements, the workers of the RTM know well that it is the tramway to the Catalans who will be acted upon and denounce the hypocrisy of the institutions.
Faced with this catastrophic situation and the next attacks to come, it is certain that the RTM bus drivers have not said their last word. With projects such as the strategic plan for Marseille Provence airport (Cap 2025), which resembles a “disguised social plan” as Nicolas says, the crisis demanded walkouts that go beyond a single day’s strike: “This is only the beginning of the mobilization, days like this, we will do others to achieve our demands! » he insists.