For his baptism of fire a few weeks after his arrival as head of human resources at SNCF, Philippe Bru hopes to have convinced the unions. On Wednesday, he presented his salary increase proposals to the four representative trade union organizations (CGT, Sud Rail, Unsa Ferroviaire, CFDT) as part of the obligatory annual negotiations (NAO). In 2024, SNCF management is proposing an increase in payroll of 4.6% on average.

“This is two points more than the level of inflation estimated at 2.6% next year,” underlines the new HR director. Over the last two years, the increase in remuneration has generally increased by 12% on average, or 6% per year, and even 14% for the lowest salaries. Over the last three years, the lowest salaries in the railway group will have been increased on average by 21%, indicates the SNCF.

The 4.6% increase proposed by the SNCF to the unions includes a general increase of 1.8% for all employees. Added to this are individual measures for 2% and 0.8% increases on low salaries. The overall cost for the company is 300 million euros. “From January 1, no SNCF employee will have a salary lower than the annual minimum wage increased by 10%,” specifies Philippe Bru.

The railway company, which benefited from record traffic this year, also set the value sharing bonus distributed to all 150,000 employees at 400 euros. Night premiums, work on Sundays and public holidays will also be increased by 4%. Trade union organizations have until November 22 to sign or not this agreement. If this is not the case, the company can make the decision unilaterally.

SNCF seeks to remain attractive to continue hiring. It recruited 8,000 people this year. “While the year 2022 marked a stagnation in the workforce, recruitments carried out in 2023 marked an increase of 2.2% in the number of employees. They should progress further in 2024,” specifies Philippe Bru. The SNCF saw a sharp increase in applications this year (37%). “But there are always tensions to hire in certain regions and certain professions,” tempers the HR director of the railway group.