The festayres will be able to travel by bus throughout the Bayonne Festival which begins this Wednesday, July 27 and ends on Sunday. Buses from the Bayonne conurbation will run normally. The CGT, CFDT and Force Ouvrière (FO) unions, which were threatening to strike, lifted their notice on Tuesday noon after a negotiation meeting with management.
At least half of the drivers had announced that they wanted to go on strike from the first day of the Bayonne Festival, which promised a very complicated situation. An agreement was therefore finally reached.
What does the agreement contain?
An agreement on working and safety conditions and wages has therefore been reached. These will be increased by 2.5% on July 1, then by 0.7% on November 1. This is in addition to the 2% increase obtained during the annual negotiations. Or 5.2% over the year and without carryover (the NAO, mandatory annual negotiations, from 2023 will start from 0). Improvements are also announced in working conditions.
This unblocking of the situation was facilitated by the intervention of elected local authorities, through the Adour Basque Country mobility union. The unions will be able to make social proposals to be included in the next Public Service Delegation and they will again be invited to tripartite (quarterly) meetings with the management of the operator (Keolis, the delegate) and the Mobility Union. The management and the unions say they are happy with the outcome of the crisis.
However, complications remain with the lack of drivers (difficulty recruiting, illness, Covid).
How to travel by bus during the Holidays?
The public transport network will therefore operate normally during the Bayonne festivals with the exception of ten lines on the coastal fringe which will only run from 2 p.m. every day.
To travel during the day from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., you can travel with your usual TXIK TXAK transport ticket or with your special Holiday Bus ticket purchased in advance. To from 8.30 p.m., only special Holiday Bus tickets are valid, on sale in TXIK TXAK agencies and in TXIK TXAK relays. The last departure to Bayonne will be at 11 p.m. with one of the adapted lines.