Three questions on the right of withdrawal exercised by teachers at a college in Yvelines

The establishment’s teaching team used its right of withdrawal after a French teacher was the target of accusations of racism and Islamophobia.

Teachers at the Jacques-Cartier college in Issou (Yvelines) returned to work on Tuesday December 12, after having exercised their right of withdrawal on Friday December 8 and Monday December 11. They were reacting to an incident during a lesson after which a French teacher was accused of racism and Islamophobia. Franceinfo returns to this provision of the Labor Code on which the teaching team at Jacques-Cartier College relied to stop work.

1 What is the right of withdrawal and in what cases can it be exercised?

The right of withdrawal is defined by the Labor Code, it allows an employee to stop working in the event of imminent danger to their life or health. The right to withdraw from civil servants, such as teachers, is specified by a 1982 decree: “The civil servant or agent is given the right to withdraw from his or her work position in the face of serious and imminent danger to his or her life or health, without incurring any sanction or withholding of salary or salary.”

There is serious and imminent danger when the person is in the presence of a threat likely to cause serious harm to their physical integrity or health, in a very short time. The danger can be individual and collective and its origin can be diverse, the risk of aggression is one of them. An employee can exercise his right of withdrawal and interrupt his activity until the employer has put in place appropriate protective measures to put an end to the dangerous situation.

Unlike the right to strike, the right to withdraw does not result in salary deduction, unless its exercise is considered abusive. The use of the right of withdrawal must not create new situations of serious and imminent danger, which is why it is restricted for certain professions, such as firefighters or prison guards.

2 Why did the professors at Jacques-Cartier College exercise their right to withdraw?

The entire staff of the establishment decided to exercise their right of withdrawal after rumors attributing racist and Islamophobic remarks to a French teacher. This teacher shocked some of her students by showing a 6th grade class Diana and Actaeona 17th century painting by the Italian painter Giuseppe Cesari known as the Cavalier d’Arpin, on which Diana and her naked nymphs are represented.

The French professor and her colleagues explained their decision to exercise their right of withdrawal in a letter dated Friday addressed to the academic management, which franceinfo was able to consult. “Faced with acts of slander, defamation, a multiplication and aggravation of incidents and attacks on secularism, we were forced to exercise our right of withdrawal”wrote the teachers. They also mentioned 16 incidents recorded since the start of the school year, compared to three last year, as well as recurring and aggressive challenges to educational practices by certain families. A diagnosis shared by the mayor of Issou, Lionel Giraud (DVG). “The right of withdrawal concerns the accumulation of facts including the one we are talking about but which is one fact among others”he insisted in front of the establishment on Monday.

According to Catherine Nave-Bekhti, general secretary of the General Union of National Education CFDT (SGEN-CFDT), the situation of the Jacques-Cartier college “revives the memory and the wound of the assassination of Samuel Paty, with a start that looks exactly like it, which provokes legitimate fears and anxieties, which justify the exercise of the right of withdrawal”. She considers that the right of withdrawal of the teaching team is justified and calls for it to be “recognized by the Directorate of Departmental Services of National Education, so that there is no withholding of salary”.

3 What did the teachers get to stop exercising their right of withdrawal?

Teachers at Jacques-Cartier College exercised their right of withdrawal to sound the alarm and ask for more resources, which they obtained. The Minister of National Education visited the site on Monday and declared that positions would be set up in “reinforcement of school life teams“, “a CPE position but also reinforcements for education assistants and AESH (accompanying students with disabilities)“. In addition to these announcements, an academic team “values ​​of the Republic” will be deployed at Jacques-Cartier college, added Gabriel Attal.