In the collective imagination, firefighter rhymes with the extinguishing of a fire. So it was with surprise that people witnessed this demonstration during which the strikers were starting fires using smoke bombs and by setting tires on fire in the central reservation.
Firefighters as arsonists? The world turned upside down!
The conflict between firefighters and the prefecture regarding working hours, which has been ongoing since March 2014, reached a new stage this Monday morning with a protest between Cap 3000 and the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture in Nice.
Several hundred firefighters protested in front of the prefecture, and several highway exits and entrances around Saint-Augustin or Nice Promenade were closed for a large part of the morning.
At the heart of the conflict is the working hours, particularly the duty schedule that was altered by SDIS 06 and rejected by the Prefect, who called it illegal due to non-compliance with the legally required annual hours.
“Regarding the gathering on the A8 highway, which caused traffic blockage, it should be noted that a route for the demonstration had been declared to the prefecture on February 15, and it was not followed,” reacted the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture in a statement. “It will be up to the public prosecutor to decide on the appropriate actions for the obstruction of traffic,” it added.
The deliberations of the Administrative Board of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (CA of SDIS) on March 13, 2014, and July 11, 2014, mainly aimed to reduce the working hours of professional firefighters in the Alpes-Maritimes by 10%.
The Administrative Court of Appeal of Marseille confirmed on January 26, 2016, the judgment of the Nice Administrative Tribunal dated December 19, 2014, and annulled these deliberations.
For the Prefecture, the situation leaves no room for ambiguity: “Therefore, it is up to the CA of SDIS to decide: either to revert to the original deliberation or to draft a new one that complies with regulations.”
The problem is that the president of SDIS is also the president of the Departmental Council, and Eric Ciotti has made SDIS one of his showcases, similar to how Christian Estrosi has positioned the municipal police.
In this case, his notorious rigidity concerning rights against duties has thus found a certain flexibility.
Moreover, his silence on the actions of “his” firefighters is more than eloquent…
