French unions threaten strikes during Olympics
Public workers are pressing for bonuses and perks to skip holidays and work during Paris games
French public sector workers who staff hospitals, public transport and museums are threatening to strike during the summer Olympics, setting up a showdown with Emmanuel Macron’s government.
Sophie Binet, the head of the hardline CGT union, has led the charge by declaring that the government had to pay up if it wanted the games to run smoothly. Hosting the Olympics “is an investment that . . . is supposed to boost France’s image, so there must be money unlocked to compensate public sector workers”, she said earlier this month.
About 16 million people are expected in Paris for the games that will focus planetary attention on the city from July 26 to August 11.
The period was chosen by organisers specifically because it comes when many residents leave for their sacrosanct summer holidays, lessening pressure on public transport and infrastructure and leaving room for Olympics fans.
But the choice was also risky because a wide range of public sector workers are effectively being strong-armed into working through the summer holidays. Some disgruntled staff are in return asking for bonuses, overtime pay, and for support such as childcare for their kids.
Unions also argue that nurses, cops and train drivers are already worn out because of worsening working conditions and angry about their slipping living standards from wages that have not kept up with inflation.
“Rail workers are no longer willing to make sacrifices for what the government says is the greater good,” said François-Xavier Arouls, a leader of the Solidaires union at RATP, the Paris region’s public transport group. “If they pay us correctly, we will be there and help make the country proud during the games. If not . . . ”
Organisers of the summer games have chosen an ambitious yet logistically challenging format in which many events will be held in temporary venues purpose built at emblematic historic such as the Grand Palais and Place de la Concorde.
Concerns about whether the concept will come off have mounted lately, especially over the opening ceremony to be held on boats on the Seine river. It comes as France has recently moved to the highest alert level for terror attacks.
The CGT has already filed official notifications with the government that three branches — customs officers, municipal police and cultural sector workers — could potentially stage walkouts, and warned that others could follow. Another union has created a website with a live counter of the number of rail workers who have signed up as ready to strike.
Some labour movement experts have downplayed the threats as mere bargaining tactics to try to get bigger bonuses and perks. Transport minister Patrice Vergriete, a former mayor of the northern industrial city of Dunkirk, boldly declared in February: “There will be no strikes.”
The challenges contrast with the mood when Paris was awarded the games in 2017 and the organising committee took the unprecedented step of bringing union representatives into its governing bodies.
A popular former CGT boss, Bernard Thibault, was named to the Paris 2024 board and headed an effort to design a charter of 16 principles to be respected with regard to workers in the run-up and during the event.
“It allowed me to be present every month to intervene on problems or talk about issues like transport or security,” said Thibault, adding that all five of the countries’ biggest labour unions signed on to the charter.
Thibault criticised the government for not having reached accords with public workers months ago. “It’s not fair to leave people in a fog of uncertainty with the games so close at hand.”
Government ministries are racing to negotiate deals. Interior minister Gérald Darmanin in January announced bonuses of up to €1,900 for police officers to head off a revolt.
Stanislas Guerini, the minister of transformation and public service, has offered up to €350 in subsidies for childcare and 1,000 reserved places for kids to go to camp. But he has not finalised a deal with unions ahead of a crunch meeting in mid-April. “We are going to help families,” he said, adding that bonuses could go from €500 to €1,500.