There wasn’t a crowd at Place Masséna. Around sixty union members gathered to express their discontent. They still responded to the national call made by the CGT across France. The message has remained the same since last year: salary increases and improvement of the daily conditions for public sector workers.
“In France, we’re a macho country that doesn’t pay women their fair share.” Since the announcement of the conclusions from the Ségur de la santé, the pressure hasn’t subsided. In their crosshairs is the promised €183 increase for social and medico-social staff in public hospitals. “We have nurses paid €1800. We are far from the OECD average,” says Stéphane Gauberti, general secretary of the CGT CHU in Nice. This has direct consequences on future recruitments: “The loss of job attractiveness is due to harmful managerial methods. The ongoing career revaluation in the public sector is a scandal. This results in career prolongations despite the job’s arduousness,” adds Delphine Girard, secretary of USD CGT 06.
A deteriorating situation
From the outset, Delphine Girard announces the situation, “100,000 hospital beds have closed in 20 years.” Added to this is “a chronic lack of staff” and “the public research sector in agony.” Yet, they held on despite the pandemic that swept through. “We endured the first wave in unacceptable conditions. To cope with COVID, beds had to be opened in emergency,” they say.
According to them, they are not sufficiently supported by the government to work with dignity, nor by the management of various hospitals. They “follow national directives and therefore don’t support us because they don’t care,” according to the unionist. “Colleagues often report poor working conditions and a lack of resources. Salaries remain very low. Despite the Ségur de la santé, Portugal, for example, is ahead of us. They prefer to leave for private hospitals or clinics. Do you wonder why they don’t offer substantial salaries? Because it’s a female-dominated profession,” asserts Stéphane Gauberti.
A very festive gathering
A good portion of the group seemed to prefer the excitement of the France-Germany match. To make up for this lack, the world of entertainment was never far. Among them was Jean Louis Ruf, CGT Spectacle delegate of the Alpes-Maritimes. Music and singing were part of this small-scale demonstration. The clear aim was to provide some relief and to attract onlookers nearby.
Among this small gathering were psychologists, social action, the Montjoye association, genetic and bacteriology laboratories, the hospitals of Menton, Grasse, and Antibes, the SAMU, paramedics, the AFPJR, and more. As a reminder, there were over 260 gatherings last year across the territory. In Nice, it represented around 2,000 people.
