EDF's unions are mobilising all this week on wages via general assemblies in the production plants. They plan to announce a date for a national day of action on Thursday, after negotiations on the subject with the group's management broke down. The four unions representing EDF (CFE-Energie, CGT, CFDT, FO) refused to sign the agreement proposed by management on Monday 8 January and filed a strike notice that runs from this Monday.
Individually, each site that wishes to do so can organize its mobilization, "but we will have a national day of mobilization that will be announced on Thursday," said Amélie Henri, national secretary of the CFE-CGC, the group's largest union. On Monday, the Cruas power plant in the Ardèche region was on strike, with a blockade of maintenance activities, according to the CGT. In the autumn of 2022, a strike caused delays in the work schedule of French nuclear power plants, and raised fears of shortages, in the midst of the European energy crisis.
" READ ALSOSOARING nuclear electricity production of EDF in France in 2023
No impact on the general public
However, the situation is significantly different this winter: while last year many power plants had to carry out work due to stress corrosion in their cooling circuits, the available capacity of the nuclear fleet has increased and now stands at 84.59% thanks to the work carried out, a rate not reached since January 2021, according to public data extracted by AFP on Monday. The national strike, if it were to take place, would have no impact on the general public, as the right to strike is highly regulated in the sector, and would mainly affect the company's finances, according to a union source.
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In total, the general and individual increases for EDF SA lead to an average wage increase of 4.14% for the year 2024," the management said. They are broken down as follows: a general increase of 2% for all employees of the company, at the level of the branch, an increase in seniority of 0.64% on average and a level of individual increases of +1.5%. On this last point, the CFE-CGC demanded 4%, the CGT the same level of increases as last year, i.e. 2.3%. The management highlighted the group's "complex context of high debt", recalling that it amounts to "more than €64 billion", as well as the "strong investment needs" required in particular by the revival of nuclear power.