SNCF employee purchasing power measures amid inflation, Digi Mart USA News (France): The French national rail operator SNCF announced on Tuesday, November 3, three measures aimed at improving the purchasing power of its employees in the face of inflation. The announcement followed a meeting with trade unions, which are instead calling for a general increase in salaries for 2026.
A profit-sharing bonus of €400 will be paid at the end of November to employees of SNCF SA, SNCF Voyageurs, SNCF Réseau, SNCF Gares et Connexions, and SNCF Optim’Services. The company said this covers about 140,000 of the 280,000 employees of the public rail group.
Starting November 1, allowances for night work, Sunday and holiday work are increased by 2% for the roughly 100,000 employees who ensure continuity of rail service or work staggered hours. On the same date, all employees who use a personal vehicle for work purposes will see their mileage allowance increased by 5%.
The measures are in addition to those already taken earlier in the year. These include a first profit-sharing bonus of €250 paid in March, a €100 bonus in July, profit-sharing payments averaging €1,050 over the year, and a continued 75% coverage of public transport subscription costs.
SNCF said employees will receive on average €1,700 in 2026 from the two profit-sharing bonuses and the profit-sharing scheme, representing an average increase of 30% compared with 2025.
Rail unions gathered Tuesday outside SNCF headquarters in Saint-Denis to demand a general catch-up of wages to offset inflation. Fabrice Charrière, general secretary of Unsa ferroviaire, said the company’s wage agreement of January 27 was based on an assumed 1.3% inflation rate for 2026.
He noted that the national statistics institute Insee published an estimate of 3.4% for October on Friday, arguing that this left a gap of two points of purchasing power that no one has compensated. He also pointed to a record profit of €1.2 billion posted by SNCF in the first half of the year.
The four main unions, CGT, Unsa Ferroviaire, Sud Rail and CFDT, have joined a national strike call for Thursday over wages and employment and are demanding the opening of genuine wage negotiations.
