Will the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this summer be disrupted by strikes?
In the public service, for example, the CGT will submit strike notices at the beginning of April for the period covering the Olympics (July 26-August 11), indicated its general secretary, Sophie Binet, this Thursday March 7 on Franceinfo.
SNCF, police, hospital... In the sectors which will be particularly involved during the Games, several unions denounce the absence of financial compensation or adjustment of the working conditions of employees who will be affected by the Olympics, and threaten to carry out a strike if they do not obtain satisfaction.
Overview of the different sectors.
At the SNCF, discussions drag on
At SNCF, round tables are organized every month between management and the unions, and the pace of discussions will gradually accelerate between now and June, assures management interviewed by AFP.
“
But, for the moment, there is no notable progress.
Management is playing for time ,
”
a union official
whispered this Thursday in
Le Parisien .
The railway company offers employees mobilized during the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games a bonus of 50 euros per day and an additional bonus of 200 to 500 euros depending on the period in which they take their leave.
The unions are skeptical about the figure of 1,500 euros (the maximum amount of cumulative bonuses), which they believe will be difficult to achieve or reserved for a small minority.
Also read: “We have the workforce” for the Olympic Games, assures the CEO of SNCF Voyageurs
In the Paris metro, ongoing discussions and strike notice
At the RATP, negotiations regarding metro drivers are not over.
On the buses, the negotiations are complete and the bonuses diverge depending on the professions and lines: some agents will be entitled to 15 euros per day worked during the competition, others to 25 euros and still others will be able to receive a bonus of 100 or 200 euros extra, which makes an exact estimate impossible.
The CGT, number one union of the RATP, demands that beyond the bonuses linked to the Games, salary negotiations focus on lasting measures and for this, they use the Olympic deadline as leverage.
This is the meaning of their strike notice filed from February to September.
Also read: Do we have reason to be optimistic about public transport during the Olympics, like the government?
At the Parisian public hospital, the situation seems blocked
The Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), which needs around 800 additional full-time equivalents during the Olympics compared to a typical summer, has promised to grant, under certain conditions, bonuses to staff of some 80 services which will
“
give up
”
part of their vacation.
But the amounts (from 800 euros gross per week for employees in category C, to 2,500 euros gross for doctors) and the
“
restrictive conditions
”
bristle the unions, who consider these bonuses
“
insufficient
”
and
“
discriminatory
”
.
United as an inter-union organization, the CGT, FO, Unsa and the CFTC demand in particular
“
2,000 euros for everyone in all services
”
and respect for
“
three weeks minimum
”
of summer vacation.
The situation seems blocked.
“
The situation in hospitals is more catastrophic every summer
”
due to staff shortages, notes Joran Jamelot (CGT), and the Olympics are only
“
the straw that breaks the camel's back, which is already extremely full
”
.
Also read: How are medical care services organized for the Paris Olympics?
At the Eiffel Tower, “anything is possible”
The Eiffel Tower inaccessible during the Olympics?
Not impossible, according to the unions, after the strike last month which led to the closure of the Iron Lady for five days.
“
We suspended the strike because the town hall accepted a negotiation
”
, but the resumption of the social movement
“
will depend on the outcome of the negotiation.
Everything is possible ,
”
assures Stéphane Dieu, CGT delegate.
Will the Eiffel Tower be blocked?
“
If we do not arrive at a finding of disagreement, it is an option which remains on the table
”
even if
“
no one, neither us nor the City nor France, has any interest in that
”
.
Also read: Is the Eiffel Tower in a worrying state due to lack of maintenance?
“Olympic Truce” in the air
In civil aviation, the SNCTA union (60% of the votes among controllers) adopted in September the principle of an “
Olympic truce
” with the general directorate of civil aviation, conditioned by
“
an increase in compensation
”
and new salary discussions after the Olympics.
Bonus for committed police officers and gendarmes, the municipal police are waiting for a gesture
A bonus, up to 1,900 euros, was announced on January 30 by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin for police officers and gendarmes working in Île-de-France.
But on the municipal police side, nothing is done.
Stéphane Poupeau (SNSP) assures AFP that
“
actions will be carried out in certain large cities during the passage of the flame, and then during the Olympics if things do not change by then
”
.
In Paris, his FO counterpart, Malik Belhadj, is still waiting for the announcements:
“
With the financial fallout from the Olympics, there is the capacity to give us a little something
.
”
Otherwise ?
“
I'm not talking to you about sick leave... that's what's hanging over the City's nose.
»