Seasonal ski lifts are still waiting for announcements from the government but FO said he was " disappointed " Thursday with the proposals drafted by the Ministry of Labor, ten days after actions carried out in resorts in the Alps and the Pyrenees against the reform unemployment insurance.
Read also: Calls to strike in ski lifts on February 15
" I am very disappointed, we only heard about training, which for me is not a solution, " explained Éric Becker, Federal Secretary Transport and Logistics in charge of ski lifts and seasonal workers. According to him, the Ministry of Labor wants seasonal workers to train in " trades that do not exist in these employment areas ", which will force seasonal workers " to leave ". What is more, this proposal is only for 2020, notes Éric Becker.
FO and the CGT fear the repercussions of the new method of calculating unemployment benefit, which comes into effect on April 1. This aims to put an end to a situation currently more favorable, for the same amount of work, to people alternating short contracts and inactivity (which can be the case of seasonal workers) than to those working continuously. According to Unédic, some 850,000 new entrants, who had periods not worked between two contracts, would have a lower monthly allowance of 22% on average (from 905 to 708 euros) with the reform.
The CGT, also behind the mobilization in winter sports resorts, was received Thursday at the Ministry of Labor. " The ministry told us that announcements will be made during March that will meet our demands. We will be attentive to these announcements, ”Antoine Fatiga (CGT) told AFP. Last week, the ministry promised " a support plan " for this week. But, this plan seems to be taking longer than expected. According to FO, there are approximately 17,000 seasonal contracts in the ski lifts.
