The wishes of the Pasteur Hospital, which were supposed to take place yesterday at 6 PM, were canceled due to a national public sector strike. Explanations of the union demands.
The procession set off yesterday morning from Place Garibaldi with a common message: “We love public services, we defend them.” Today’s strike focuses on three essential points: employment, purchasing power, and the waiting day. The unions believe that even though some sectors are experiencing a surge in hiring, this cannot hide the cuts in others and the pessimistic situation in the public sector.
The second alarming point is salaries and purchasing power. Low wages have multiplied over the past years. They highlight the figure of one million agents in the sector earning around the minimum wage. Qualifications are said to be no longer recognized, and the Government is not taking any measures.
Then, the unions focus on the waiting day. According to the law, it is “the non-payment of remuneration for the first day of sick leave for public civil and military agents.” In their view, this reform is absurd. They consider it unfair and ineffective. Condemned by the unions and the mutualist movement, it has not yet been repealed by the Ayrault Government, even though they rejected it when they were in opposition.
Their solutions: an immediate moratorium on job cuts, the repeal of the waiting day, an increase in the value of the index point to raise salaries, and finally, and perhaps most importantly, the improvement of the functioning of the public sector and public services.
A meeting is scheduled for February 1st at the initiative of the staff representatives of the CHU (University Hospital Center) and the CAL (Antoine Lacassagne Center) to discuss the possible closure of the full hospitalization service I4 of the GCS – IUFC (Health Cooperation Group – University Institute of the Face and Neck). The demands of the CGT are clear. The union strongly opposes the merging of the two units (CHU and CAL), which would lead to heavy, more demanding schedules. They question the usefulness of this closure and, in response to the questions from doctors and staff, call on everyone to gather from 1 PM in the N1 rest room.
