Reorganization, salaries and mental health, the CGT alerts on the situation of territorial agents

Seven months after the election of the new municipal council led by Éric Ciotti, the CGT Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur union held a press conference to denounce the lack of visibility, the blocking of wage negotiations and the concerning increase in workplace suffering.

This Friday, October 16, representatives of the territorial CGT painted an alarming picture at their press conference. Sandy Voredini and Andrew Renault, co-general secretaries, as well as Stéphane Poulet, treasurer of the union and elected to the CST, laid out the serious concerns affecting all three entities, where between 12,000 and 14,000 employees work.

At the heart of concerns is the drastic restructuring of services. The organizational chart has gone from 140 departments to approximately 40 today. According to the union, this initial draft of the organizational chart contains many vacant positions or positions filled by interim directors.

This situation creates confusion affecting all hierarchical chains (sub-departments, service heads, unit heads, operational staff). The CGT fears job cuts, targeting first and foremost contract employees whose contracts are not being renewed.

The union also points to spontaneous departures of employees seeking to escape organizational insecurity, which destabilizes services already lacking in staffing. When asked about the justifications given by the local authority, the CGT mentions the argument of announcements of 60 million euros in budget savings and a desire to tighten management.

Income decline and negotiations at a standstill

On the financial side, the reorganization is leading to a reduction in allowance regimes for managers whose responsibilities are decreasing. Furthermore, the CGT deplores the halt of all wage negotiations begun under the previous municipal administration, suspended due to the electoral period and not resumed over the past seven months.

On the financial and purchasing power front, the union denounces a continuous deterioration of the situation for territorial employees in the face of the high cost of living and housing in the department. The CGT is making a global demand for a 150 € net increase in allowance regimes for all personnel of the three entities. Beyond this general measure, urgent wage negotiations are being called for in particularly precarious sectors. Education personnel, activity coordinators (the majority of whom are paid the minimum wage) and contract artists at the Nice Opera are affected. Finally, the union strongly regrets the executive’s refusal to grant free public transportation to employees, even though this measure has been granted to healthcare personnel and penitentiary staff.

Psychosocial risks, the CGT alerts on workplace suffering

On the mental health front, Stéphane Poulet’s assessment is unequivocal. « Work overload, isolation, lack of recognition and organizational failures fuel concerning suffering that is constantly increasing. »

Although a detailed four-page alert letter was sent to the Mayor of Nice and President of the Metropolis on September 17, the CGT deplores a complete absence of concrete response. Worse still, at recent occupational health and safety meetings, it became apparent that the preventive medicine software managing the Single Risk Assessment Document was technically inadequate for the new organizational chart, leaving the local authority blind to the distress of its employees.

Although dialogue is not entirely broken off with the institutions, the CGT having been received by senior management in August, the union denounces the absence of concrete responses and the postponement of decisions to January.

Faced with this situation, strike notices and sectoral mobilization processes are being prepared for mid-November, particularly in the Opera, education sectors, and within museums. When asked about the absence of a general movement, the union explains that the political context and concerns about job security are deterring some employees, particularly contract workers, from declaring themselves strikers.