On Tuesday, September 29 in the morning, several thousand protesters gathered in Garibaldi Square to answer the national call. Hospital workers, police officers, teachers and healthcare professionals marched side by side to denounce the wage freeze, the decline in purchasing power and the continuous deterioration of public services.
In Nice, the civil service reclaimed its rights in the streets this Tuesday morning. CGT, FO, CFDT, UNSA, FSU, Solidaires, CFE-CGC and FA-FP gathered around 9 o’clock for an initial departure from Garibaldi Square. The inter-union processions crossed the city center before ending their march in Liberation Square. In the ranks, a dense crowd of more than 2,000 people determined, bringing together state employees, local government workers and hospital sector employees. Behind the CGT’s leading banner, the message is crystal clear. « Low wages, miserable pensions, precariousness is enough, raise our wages. »
For the protesters present, the convergence of struggles is no longer theoretical, but a necessity in the face of a cost of living that has become unbearable especially in the Alpes-Maritimes department.
« It’s not enough », wage urgency at the heart of demands
While inflation weighs heavily on households, the salary increases granted by the State are considered derisory. « Our demands are clear, the value of the index point at €6.50, massive hiring in the public hospital sector and indexing of our salaries to current inflation », insists Benoît Duhamel, general secretary of the CGT at l’Archet hospital (CHU Nice). « Since 2010, virtually nothing has happened. It is becoming increasingly difficult to live properly. Everything is deteriorating, and at the national level. »
An observation supported by police unions. For the UNSA Police departmental delegate, standing alongside their public sector colleagues was obvious. « The demands are common, revaluation of the salary scale and unlocking the index point to offset inflation. We expect strong measures and budgets, because the problem affects hospitals and education as much as the police. In Nice, the cost of housing is exorbitant. Civil servants can no longer afford decent housing. We are suffering from rising fuel and rent prices, it’s a context that is going very badly. »
The same tone from the Unité union departmental delegate, who denounces the lack of consideration from public authorities in the face of rising costs. « In the 06, it’s not enough. The price of petrol is becoming indecent. This mobilization aims to voice this anger. »
Widespread exhaustion and stifled anger
Beyond wages, it is the lack of resources on a daily basis that is strangling healthcare and education professionals. Present in the procession, a unionized speech therapist warns of the saturation of her profession. « It is important to show our presence to preserve access to care for our patients. We are exhausted like everyone else, we can no longer meet demand, she exclaims. We are demanding a revaluation of our salary scale and we fully assert our place as healthcare professionals, on equal terms with all other medical staff. »
On the side of education and state services, a FSU representative (Fédération Syndicale Unitaire) points the finger at a budget policy at a standstill: « It’s the fed-up feeling with government policies and the reduction in state resources across all sectors, education, higher education, firefighters… The demonstration at least serves to show that we exist and that we don’t agree with these liberal policies that impoverish people. »
Several strike notices and demonstrations are already scheduled throughout October to maintain pressure on the government.
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