Minister of the Civil Service Stanislas Guerini, at the Elysée, March 6, 2024 (AFP/Archives/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
Pressure on civil servant unions: Stanislas Guerini estimated on Saturday that “the whole country” wanted to escape the strikes promised for the Olympic Games by the first two public employee organizations, while insisting on accompanying measures.
“The whole country wants there to be no strikes” during the Olympic Games (July 26-August 11, Editor’s note) and Paralympic Games (August 28-September 8), the Minister of the Civil Service insisted on Saturday on franceinfo , two days after calls for strikes launched by the CGT and FO.
“This moment (the Games, Editor’s note) must be a moment of success for the nation,” insisted the minister on Franceinfo radio. “I meet a lot of public officials, there is not one who announced to me their intention to strike” during the event, he assured.
On Thursday, the general secretary of the CGT Sophie Binet affirmed that the union would file strike notices in April in the three branches of the civil service (state, territorial, hospital), for the period covering the Olympic Games.
“We want the government to take measures immediately to ensure the success of the Games. To do this, our warnings must finally be heard and the Games must be prepared from a social point of view,” she said on franceinfo.
The general secretary of the CGT Sophie Binet, during a demonstration at the foot of the Eiffel Tower whose employees were on strike, February 22, 2024 (AFP/Archives/Dimitar DILKOFF)
A few hours after this announcement from the first public sector union, the second (Force Ouvrière) followed suit by announcing a strike notice for March 19, the day of an inter-union mobilization for the salaries of the 5.7 million workers. public officials, as of September 8.
The CFDT (3rd union) and the Unsa (4th) have conversely made it known that they are not currently calling for mobilization in the public service during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“The Games will be an important moment for our country. At this stage, we do not plan to take them as targets to respect this moment,” Unsa said in a press release published Friday.
– 10,000 checks –
Saturday on franceinfo, Stanislas Guerini judged “very inaccurate” the unions’ assertion that there would be no dialogue with the government to prepare for the Olympic Games. A meeting between the administration and the unions is also planned for Tuesday on this subject, he recalled.
He also confirmed that public officials mobilized during the Olympics would receive bonuses of 500, 1,000 or even 1,500 euros, depending on their degree of involvement and the impact of the event on their profession.
“An additional system” is planned “for the security forces, who are particularly mobilized”, he added, a few weeks after the government’s announcement of bonuses of up to 1,900 euros for certain police officers and gendarmes.
During a demonstration by police officers, under the colors of the “Alliance” union, on January 18, 2024 in Paris, to obtain compensation for their compulsory presence this summer for the Paris Olympic Games (AFP/Archives/Dimitar DILKOFF)
Enough to respond to criticism from unions, who have been denouncing for weeks the absence of clear criteria for the granting of exceptional bonuses linked to the Olympic Games.
Stanislas Guerini also announced that 10,000 universal service employment vouchers (Cesu) would be paid to civil servants mobilized during the Olympics, up to 200 euros per child as a general rule and 350 euros per child for single-parent families.
“The Cesu is used to support (…) parents who should pay a babysitter or a nanny in the evening, because they extend their working hours a little,” he explained.
“We are going to set up nursery places, reserve 1,000 places in holiday centers to be able to further help families who send children to camp,” concluded the minister.
The government is also ready to lift the ceiling on the number of days of teleworking granted to the 5.7 million public agents, in a context where the administration has been called upon by the government to favor teleworking to avoid further congesting public transport. common during the Games.
The number of agents directly affected by the Olympics has not yet been decided but should be known at the end of March. The support measures for mobilized civil servants will cost several hundred million euros, a source close to the matter told AFP.
© 2024 AFP
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