It has become a trend, even a guiding principle for the Nice city council. The resumption in public management or public-private partnership is increasingly popular. Today, it’s the water service that is under discussion. The city wants to take back control of water management in partnership with Veolia.
The mayor of Nice and President of the Metropolis, Christian Estrosi, clarified the subject: “We will wait for the expiration of the public service delegation contracts to start this new partnership. For Nice, it is February 4, 2015, and for the 4 eastern communes, it is September 14, 2014.”
Pending the official resumption, a transition period will allow Veolia to assist the metropolitan services in this new project. This transitional period should continue after the expiration of the contracts until 2016. About 220 Veolia employees will join the public management, and 280 others will remain in the company. The “Eau Azur” company, created specifically for this management, will operate like a business. The industrial and commercial public institution will provide service to the 4 eastern communes (Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Cap d’Ail, Eze, and Villefranche-sur-Mer) and the city of Nice.
Several unions, concerned following this announcement, nonetheless signed a draft resolution with the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis according to the terms of the agreement. The CFDT, CGT, CFE-CGC, FO, and the coordinator of the inter-union, Gérald Berdin, accepted this agreement in exchange for several conditions:
– The maintenance of current jobs at Veolia’s regional management in the Nice area.
- The preparation of a substitute agreement to the existing collective agreements in the company by the metropolis and representatives of Veolia Eau personnel.
- An agreement on the method adopted for identifying the personnel transferred within the management.
With this management system, Christian Estrosi aims to “offer quality service to everyone at the lowest possible price.” However, doubts persist about the functioning of this management, particularly regarding employee management. An abundance of management could result in an overload of employees for the metropolis, making them challenging to handle and train. The collaboration between Veolia staff and metropolitan employees also remains uncertain due to different employers.
