French government fires bus and rail workers accused of “radicalization”

Anthony Torres 

Under the cover of “anti-terror” laws introduced by Socialist Party President François Hollande in 2016, the French rail and bus networks have placed their employees under the surveillance of the Interior Ministry. They are seeking to justify firing workers based on nothing more than a suspicion of being politically radicalized.

An article published Saturday by Le Monde reports what happened to a Parisian transport worker, speaking under the pseudonym Hocine. Seventeen months ago, a manager summoned Hocine at the end of his shift and informed him that he was suspended from his duties as a bus driver in the Ile-de-France region. A few days later, he received a letter at his parents’ house: “We are obliged to notify you of your dismissal [for a real and serious reason].”

The explanation given was as follows: “You have been investigated by the Interior Ministry resulting in an assessment of incompatibility being rendered against you.”

According to the newspaper, “public transport companies can ask the police to investigate job applicants and employees who wish to change their jobs or whose behavior is concerning.” These so-called “screening” operations aim to determine whether the person's attitude “gives serious reasons to believe that he or she is likely, in the course of his or her duties, to commit an act seriously prejudicial to public security or order.”

The National Service for Administrative Security Investigations (SNEAS) relies on various files relating to “the prevention of terrorism or breaches of public security and order.” These listings include the names of individuals suspected of religious radicalization or involved in movements designated by the state as extreme-left or extreme-right. The SNEAS gives a negative or positive opinion without explanation to the employer, who can launch a dismissal procedure against the employee on this basis.

When Hocine asked for clarification, his interlocutor “didn’t know what to say,” the Le Monde article noted. As the newspaper pointed out, the SNEAS report included no justification, meaning that the state’s characterization of Hocine as dangerous was made arbitrarily. Hocine denounced the procedure and told the official: “I am not a terrorist, I gave you my criminal record, there is nothing on it.”

One of the lawyers for dismissed workers, Thierry Renard, denounced this arbitrary system, which he said was comparable to “sealed letters,” a practice of the Ancien Régime allowing the kings to imprison their subjects without trial. “My clients cannot defend themselves because they do not know the reasons why they were fired,” Renard said. Under the guise of the fight against terrorism, he added, fundamental freedoms are being violated.

These procedures, which violate fundamental democratic rights, have already targeted dozens of workers in France.

According to a report by deputies Eric Diard (The Republicans, Bouches-du-Rhône) and Eric Poulliat (Republic on the Move, Gironde), the national rail network stated that it had “received just over 20 negative responses from 2,125 job applications, and two negative responses for 300 internal transfers.” By the end of 2018, the Parisian transport operator had sent some 5,800 cases to the interior ministry, resulting in 124 layoff notices (another 134 cases were still under review).