Moroccan staff seek equal rights as French colleagues

Paris, 15 Dec – (ANA) - About 360 Moroccans hired by the French rail firm SNCF in the 1970s have taken their employer to a tribunal to demand the same rights as French colleagues.

They were recruited as contract workers and not given the status of official SNCF railway workers - something long reserved for French nationals.

The status, now open to all EU citizens, entails better pay and other benefits, as well as rail travel perks.

The SNCF says the status is a regulation decided by the French state.

French railway trade union Sud Rail, which is backing the Moroccans at the Paris industrial tribunal, said the status issue was a "form of direct discrimination".

"We had talks with the SNCF about the abolition of the nationality clause but they did not get anywhere," said Sud Rail representative Bouabdellah Frahlia.

The Parisian bus and metro company RATP, he noted, did away with a similar nationality clause in 2002. (ANA)

FA/ANA/15 December 2010------