We received some good news last Friday. Yannick Conegero, a non-commissioned officer with the volunteer fire brigade in Cerbère (Pyrénées-Orientales), will not be disciplined by his superiors. He had been accused of arriving late for work on 6 November. He had no trouble justifying his lateness, as he had been called out to tackle a brush fire. But this excuse was apparently not enough for the local FRET management at the SNCF, who threatened him with disciplinary action.
Following our article and the fact that our story was picked up by other media outlets, Yannick Conegero was interviewed by his management team based in Clichy. "I was interviewed by my line managers; no disciplinary action or reprimand has been taken against me. I was called in simply to have the agreement between the fire service and the SNCF explained to me." he told the collective which represents the interests of volunteer firefighters in the Pyrénées-Orientales (66). There was a full-scale mobilisation, as the Pyrénées-Orientales Departmental Firefighters’ Union (UDSP 66), the National Federation (FNSPF) and the SDIS 66 all sprang into action as soon as they were made aware of the problem. It is reported that there was a rapid "the assurance from the SNCF’s senior management that he would not be penalised for this delay", explains Jean Garcia, chairman of the UDSP 66.
A resolution for 2018
"From now on, if this were to happen again, my superiors (the fire service) will have to take the necessary steps to bring me back to my place of work, as this could have financial consequences" adds Yannick Conegero, whilst noting that "On the contrary, a fire can have economic consequences, but also – and above all – human consequences".
After a great deal of stress – for him and those around him – over the festive season, he admits he intends to respond less frequently to calls at times close to his scheduled hours, so that this situation does not happen again. In a message written for the end of the petition signed by more than 18,000 people, he thanks “all the firefighters, supporters, SNCF staff, the SPV 66 collective, as well as the editorial teams at Emergency Information and France Bleu Roussillon.