Corsican Workers' Union organises strike at SNCM

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In September 2004, after a three-week strike, the Corsican Workers' Union (STC) obtained a commitment from the state-owned maritime transport firm, SNCM, that it will recruit more Corsican residents. The other trade unions at SNCM and the national union confederations have strongly criticised this deal.

The National Corsican Mediterranean Company (Société Nationale Corse Méditerranée, SNCM), is a state-owned maritime transport firm. The majority of its activities involve providing shipping services to and from Corsica. It employs some 2,600 people, including those based at its headquarters in Marseille. In September 2004, it experienced a three-week strike launched unilaterally by the Corsican Workers' Union (Syndicat des Travailleurs Corses, STC).

STC, which organises only in Corsica, is at odds with the General Confederation of Labour (Confédération Générale du Travail, CGT), which enjoys a huge majority within SNCM due to its support base on mainland France. STC is demanding that the prerogatives of the company's management team based on Corsica be bolstered, that the number of jobs for residents of the island be increased and that wages be raised for all employees resident on the island. In February-March 2004 it initiated a dispute, which led to a formal agreement between the management and STC that endorsed the principle of increased employment of Corsican residents. This agreement was invalidated by the courts after a legal challenge by other trade unions on the grounds of discrimination. STC renewed strike action on 3 September, despite the company’s poor financial state and accusations that it had a 'particularist' ideology. STC contends that the proportion of Corsicans employed at SNCM is very low. However, according to the company, 816 Corsican residents were employed in 2003, the equivalent of 550 full-time jobs and EUR 23 million worth of wages.

The proportion of SNCM’s turnover derived from its Corsican business has fallen from 72% to 61% between 1996 and 2003. Corsica Ferries, a private competitor company, is expanding rapidly. It is said to employ 290 people on Corsica, with an EUR 50 million paybill, and to be the island’s third-largest employer. Although it is registered in Switzerland, Corsica Ferries states that is has established its headquarters in Bastia on Corsica, with 'a management structure comprised of young Corsicans'.

An 'end-of-strike protocol' brought the STC’s industrial action to a close on 19 September. Although it has no defined legal status, this document provides for SNCM's recruitment on Corsica to be strengthened. This means a policy of 'rebalancing the numbers of new crew members recruited in Corsica and in other regions, using equal competence criteria and within the normal parameters of the company’s recruitment'. Additionally, the 'island resident' bonus paid to Corsican staff has been increased.

This outcome of the dispute provoked deep discontent among other unions, which see in the final agreement a serious attack on French republican principles and equal opportunity in employment within the nation. STC’s competitor unions are accusing it of carrying out a politically-motivated strike with nationalist inclinations, and are concerned that this type of demand is consonant with divisive separatist claims at a time when Corsica has seen many racist attacks. All the main trade union confederations have criticised STC’s perceived commitment to this type of principle. The Corsican CGT organisation, however, backs the compromise reached, as do some of the island’s elected officials and business leaders, who question the low proportion of Corsican staff in a firm receiving large subsidies from the Corsican regional authority. SNCM ships were blockaded up to 23 September at the behest of the other unions, to protest against the informal end-of-strike agreement.

The French government feels that the new compromise 'does not infringe the principle of non-discrimination in employment' but is split on the issue.

STC, ideologically close to the Corsican nationalists, is seeking in Corsica to obtain the same representative status as is granted only to unions with a support base in the whole country. It made progress toward this goal in the industrial tribunals (conseils de prud'hommes) elections in December 2002 (FR0301107F), when it became the best supported union in Corsica. It is present in the large state-run corporations on the island and has been able to make good use of the strategic positions that it occupies. Observers note that the SNCM dispute has shown that, in actual fact, if not by law, STC is a serious force in industrial relations on the island. This message has not been ignored by the island’s employers, which need to ensure that the maritime links to the mainland run on a regular basis.