Anger is brewing within the France Télévisions group. Since Monday, April 8, 2024, the regional correspondents of the France 2 channel have been called to an indefinite strike by the inter-union CFDT-CGC-CGT-FO-SNJ-Unsa of France Télévisions. This strike aims to denounce the deterioration of their working conditions but also to denounce the fact that their numerous requests have never obtained a response during the obligatory annual negotiation phase (NAO) between employer and employee representatives.
We learn that among these correspondents, who number twenty, sixteen of them have decided to radically stop working. Also, in the strike notice, dated Thursday March 28, 2024, the inter-union is concerned about “exhaustion (of France 2 teams in the region) due to working hours beyond 11 hours, or even 1 p.m., every other weekend worked, a personal life often on hold“and demands “consideration“.”Correspondents deserve better than crumbs!” can we read, for example, in the notice relayed by our colleagues at Puremédias.
Strike of correspondent journalists: an increase of €10 refused by France Télévisions
This Wednesday, April 10, 2024, the union once again expressed its anger against the management of France Télévision. “The workload for the editions of ‘Télématin’, ’13 Heures’ and ’20 Heures’ is increasing sharply, management must take this into account“. We also note that a call for a strike had already been considered at the start of the year but was ultimately abandoned after the signing on January 6 of a memorandum of understanding, providing in particular for the creation of a third team at within the Marseille office.
Annoyed, employee representatives are asking today “an increase in the on-call premium of 10 euros gross“. A request already rejected during the first negotiations. “Too expensive, move on, there is nothing for you!“, laments the inter-union in the press release. This on-call bonus, paid to editors and image reporter journalists (JRI), who can be mobilized at any hour of the day or night when they are on duty, is 30 euros raw today.
Rather than granting an increase in the on-call bonus for regional correspondents, management proposed an increase of 15 euros gross in their office bonus. The latter is compensation for carrying out a whole series of tasks by regional correspondents (monitoring the maintenance of France Télévisions vehicles, controlling supplies, etc.). Integrated into the salary for journalists with more than three years of seniority, its amount is today 305 euros gross per month.
“We feel humiliated by management”
Enough to make Anne Guillé-Épée, central union delegate of the National Union of Journalists of France Télévisions, furious; “We feel humiliated by management. This barely corresponds to the price of a reimbursed meal“, she said sadly in the columns of Puremédias. “Above all, we are asking for an increase in the on-call bonus, or the office bonus.“, added the reporter for France 2 in the Center-West region.
And to conclude: “LViewers don’t necessarily see the difference but we, professionals, know that the quality of the editions is degraded. The disorganization that our strike may cause will weigh on the national editorial staff in Paris“.