According to the management of Orpea, the financial results do not allow “unfortunately not to pay an incentive this year” (AFP / Archives / LOIC VENANCE)
The employees of about fifteen Orpea establishments have launched strike movements after the group’s decision in mid-May not to pay a profit-sharing bonus this year, announced Monday the CGT, which is calling for a strike from Friday in all of the group’s nursing homes.
More than 15 Ehpad, out of 227 in total in France, have already declared themselves on strike with the CGT: “in some establishments it is a day of strike, in others more”, indicated to the AFP Dominique Chave, secretary general of the CGT “private health”.
In addition, the staff of “dozens” of other retirement homes are preparing for a broader strike, scheduled from Friday morning, the union said in a statement.
In the turmoil since the release in January of the investigative book “Les Fossoyeurs”, the management of the company clarified for its part to AFP that its financial results “unfortunately did not allow it to pay a profit-sharing this year”. Usually, this bonus was around 700 euros, according to the CGT.
On the other hand, Orpea is preparing to pay an “exceptional purchasing power bonus” (Pepa), known as the “Macron” bonus, of 1,000 euros per employee, added management, specifying that the decision had been taken “even before the announcement of this strike action”.
Despite this movement, “the continuity of care and support for residents has been ensured within all the establishments concerned, thanks to the commitment of the teams and the solidarity of neighboring establishments”, specified the management. .
With the bonus, “the objective is to preserve the purchasing power of employees”, and to “go beyond what had been paid in previous years, to recognize the work accomplished by all”, continued the group leadership.
But according to Keline Sivabier, CGT national union representative, employees will receive less than in previous years, where they had received profit-sharing and the Pepa bonus.
For the CGT, “anger is rumbling” because of the non-payment of the profit-sharing bonus. For the employees, this bonus “represents the holidays which this year will not take place. Sacred nerve for this new management and this new HRD to act in this way in the face of staff with low salaries who have given so much and continue to give” , castigated the union.
“Orpea continues to make profits but makes provisions for litigation” opened on suspicion of institutional abuse or financial offenses after the revelations of Victor Castanet in “Les Fossoyeurs”. “Employees are fed up with having to pay for Orpea’s abuses,” says Mr. Chave.
© 2022 AFP
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends with the buttons below.
