RATP, SNCF, firefighters… These professions which threaten to strike during the Olympics

A strike at the Eiffel Tower from Monday February 19, after that of SNCF controllers on the weekend of February 16, 17 and 18, would they be a foretaste of what could happen during the Olympic Games and Paralympics next summer? The unions intend to take advantage of the competitions to make their demands heard. For the moment, only one RATP union and one firefighters union have filed strike notice for the Olympic period. But other professions are threatening to strike during the event. Franceinfo takes stock.

At the SNCF

At the SNCF, the unions intend to put pressure on with persistent strikes until the Olympic Games. The controllers went on strike during the February holidays. The switchers are in turn called to stop work from Friday February 23 to Saturday February 24, still during the school holidays. The agents have similar demands: better pay and better working conditions. Bonuses are planned, but their amount and their beneficiaries are not yet known.

Faced with the threats posed by these movements to the successful holding of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, certain political leaders want to strengthen the control of the right to strike. Centrist senator Hervé Marseille has tabled a bill to toughen the 2007 law on minimum service in transport. Following the Italian model, the idea would be to protect certain periods of the year, such as end-of-year celebrations or summer vacations, by making it impossible to strike. Marc Fesneau, the Minister of Agriculture, also spoke out in favor of a reinforced minimum service, without specifying its contours.

At the RATP

At RATP, the CGT-RATP, the leading union of the Parisian public transport company, has already filed a strike notice until the end of the Paralympic Games. It has been in force since February 5 and runs until September 9. The union is demanding significant salary increases, emphasizing the importance of its agents for the success of the Olympic Games.

This long notice does not mean that there will necessarily be a strike, but allows the CGT to put pressure on management in the middle of salary negotiations to obtain possible bonuses for the summer. At the same time, two other trade union organizations – FO and UNSA – signed, on Tuesday February 20, the agreement on compulsory annual negotiations providing a salary increase of 100 euros gross per month for all agents. The CGT calls for continued negotiations qualifying these measures “insufficient”. During the Games, nearly 20,000 RATP agents will be mobilized every day.

To the Eiffel tower

The famous Parisian monument is closed due to a strike for the second time in a few months. A renewable strike began on Monday February 19, after that which led to the closure of the Eiffel Tower on December 27, the day of the 100th anniversary of the death of Gustave Eiffel. The CGT and Force Ouvrière denounce the financial mismanagement of Paris City Hall. The City has decided to increase the annual fee for the monument from 16 million to 50 million euros per year, counting on the increase in the number of visitors due to the Olympic Games. From December, the strikers had assured that the Parisian monument would be “closed during the Olympic Games” if the City of Paris refused “to review its unrealistic management model”.

In the public service

Civil servants called upon to work during the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games wish to obtain compensation. Their unions demanded bonuses on February 5. They highlighted the impossibility of taking leave this summer, the overload of work, or the difficulties in organizing for those who have children, since the Games fall in the middle of school holidays.

Premiums can go up to 1,500 euros, Matignon insured. But the police officers mobilized during the Olympics have already obtained an exemption and will be able to receive between 1,900 and 3,000 euros in compensation. Customs officers are demanding to be treated in the same way, arguing that they too will be on the front line.

Among firefighters and police officers

Among the firefighters mobilized during the Olympic events, the Sud-Solidaires union has filed a strike notice for the entire period of the Games, from July 26 to August 11. This notice does not concern the firefighters of Paris and Marseille, who are military personnel and are therefore not unionized. On the other hand, firefighters from the departments of Nord, Gironde and even Loire-Atlantique, where certain events will take place, will have the possibility of striking. They cannot take vacation this summer, even though they are supposed to take 21 days off in July or August and are already experiencing excessive workloads.

Municipal police officers, on strike during Christmas and New Years at the call of the “Angry municipal police officers” collective, could also renew their movement at the dawn of the Olympic Games. They are demanding in particular an increase in their salaries.

At emergency doctors

Hospitals will be faced with an influx of tourists next summer, which will deprive caregivers of their leave. Patrick Pelloux, president of the Association of Emergency Physicians of France, calls for a “zealous strike”. “We of course do not want to paralyze the Olympics, but we will not release our schedules until we know how we will be paid, and if this remuneration is indeed equal for all those who are working at that time”, he told France Inter. A bonus is promised to mobilized caregivers, but its amount varies between nurses and doctors. And other caregivers have even received requests to work pro bono at some Olympic sites.

An “Olympic truce” in the aviation sector

For its part, the main air traffic controllers union assured that it would not strike until the end of the Games. He has undertaken to observe an “Olympic truce” until next September, that is to say during the entire sequence of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This announcement was made on September 12, after the two main unions obtained an agreement with their management. They had issued a strike notice in the middle of the Rugby World Cup, also organized by France.