More than a month after the revelations of cases of abuse against the elderly, the unions are calling on nursing home staff to strike on Tuesday. They demand an increase in wages and the taking into account of hardship.
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Guillaume Gobet worked for 18 years in an Ehpad Orpéa – the group accused of having inflicted ill-treatment on its residents – before being fired a year ago. He was a chef and recognizes it, he had become abusive towards the residents, abusive in spite of himself: “For example, the rationalization of the cost of meals which means that we have to count our sugar cubes and our crackers… A set of things which make us systematically abused.”
We must put an end to the lucrative system of private nursing homes, get out of the logic of money, says Guillaume Gobet who is also a CGT delegate: “We are asked to be profitable but not to make quality”. While the government must make announcements to improve the control of establishments in particular, Tuesday, February 8, at the end of the morning, the CGT and Force Ouvrière call on the staff of all nursing homes to strike. The two unions want to demand more hiring with the goal of one carer for one resident. They are also campaigning for higher wages and taking into account the arduous nature of these jobs.
“We are the sector of activity that breaks the most staff in France. We start a career in the care profession but we rarely finish it”
Guillaume Gobet, CGT delegateat franceinfo
Guillaume Gobet recalls that in recent years, 13 reports have been made by parliamentarians on the subject of care for the elderly. They all say the same thing: if we want to properly support the aging of the population, we must reform the system of autonomy and invest a lot more money.
The CGT and Force Ouvrière are organizing a rally on Tuesday March 8 at 10 a.m. in front of the headquarters of the Orpea group in Puteaux (Hauts-de-Seine).