“Municipal police, our retirement is going very badly” or even “discount police”... More than a hundred municipal police officers gathered in Paris on Tuesday to demand better recognition of their work, as well as an increase in remuneration and retirements.
At the call of several unions (CGT, CFTC, CFDT, etc.), several hundred "angry municipal people" gathered at the foot of the Montparnasse Tower in calm, chanting their demands to the tunes of "Bella Ciao" or Joe Dassin’s song “In the eyes of Emilie”.
“For 25 years, since the Chevènement law, the social aspect of (municipal) police officers has not evolved (...) We let officers leave after 30, 40 years on the public highway, with 1,100, 1,200 euros , 1,300 euros, there is no recognition,” explains Jacky Mahé, deputy section secretary of the municipal police union Unsa-DPSP, to AFP.
The agents want the “police” premium (ISMF or special monthly police duty allowance) to be made compulsory, which can represent up to several hundred euros per month.
They also want it to be increased to 25% of the basic salary and included in the calculation of retirement, as is the case for professional firefighters with the “fire bonus”.
They also ask for a move to a higher category as well as a year of bonus for retirement every five years.
From 1 p.m., the procession headed to the Quai d'Orsay to demonstrate in front of the premises of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), employer mayors, who according to Jacky Mahé "shoot themselves in the foot by the fact of not helping or not sufficiently” the municipal police officers, “third security force in France”.
“The profession is more and more dangerous, the municipal police of yesteryear are outdated (...) Letting municipal police officers go into the field until they are 64 years old is not doing them any favors,” he concludes.
Pressure during the Olympics
A tripartite meeting was held in the afternoon at Place Beauvau with the representative unions, the Minister Delegate in charge of Communities Dominique Faure and representatives of the AMF.
“An agreement is envisaged, there has been progress on both sides and a joint declaration will take place on March 27 during the next Superior Council of the Territorial Civil Service (CSFPT),” the minister's office told AFP. .
But the account is not there for Thierry Colomar, president of the National Federation of Municipal Police Officers of France (FNPM), member of the collective of “angry municipal police officers” at the origin of the movement, but who did not participate in the meeting.
“The special monthly function allowance is increased to 30% of the basic salary while we asked for 25% but it is not made obligatory, which means that it remains at the discretion of each mayor,” regretted Thierry Colomar.
“There are good hopes for retirement requests,” he admitted, however.
The unions have yet to decide what to do with the movement.
This mobilization is part of a movement that began on October 31, 2023, with a minutes strike which continued during Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, as well as on January 1.
Municipal police officers are also counting on the arrival of the Olympic Games, during which they will be on the front line to replace the police mobilized in the cities hosting the events, to put pressure on the government.