CASHIERS, members of the CGT union, at the ‘Grand Frais, fresh food stores in France have won a partial victory.
The CGT said: ‘After the winning struggle of the employees of Vertbaudet, a fashionable kids clothing outlet, a new struggle of women was waged: those of the cashiers of the Grand Frais store in Priest-en-Jarez.
‘A strike for the respect of their work and the refusal of precariousness – they were determined.
‘They launched, for the first time, a strike movement, on June 10, 2023, for the improvement of their purchasing power and their working conditions.
‘For a month, 18 cashiers stood up against an outdated social model, which is no longer bearable: choppy working hours; breaks not respected; salaries that cap and do not take seniority into account.
‘They were determined to go all the way in order to win. Faced with their determination, solidarity was organised.
Their courage and determination spread: in the Loire, the Firminy and Andrézieux-Bouthéon stores walked out, as well as the Less site in the Rhône. The movement gained momentum and the resistance was organised.
‘But after a month of strike, the general assembly of strikers decided to suspend the movement, until further notice, and resume work.
‘After four weeks of strike action and tough negotiations, the main demand for a wage increase has not been met.
‘But through their courage and determination, the strikers were able to demonstrate to their employer that they are capable of taking action to assert their rights.
‘And this first victory allowed them to obtain among other things:
‘A 5% increase in the end-of-year bonus (equivalent to the 13th month); An increase of 60 euros per year in purchase vouchers; A Saturday off every two months; Sunday work on a voluntary basis.’
- Meanwhile, a CGT statement warned: ‘With the ‘full employment’ bill, the government is attacking the most vulnerable, including disabled workers who will be used as a labour market adjustment variable.
‘Recognition of the status of disabled worker will no longer be extended only to people who request it, but also automatically granted to injured workers, victims of occupational diseases, holders of the Disabled Adult Allowance, holders a disability pension or a ‘mobility inclusion’ card with the mention ‘disability’ and even to minors who have been accompanied by an MDPH (Departmental House for Disabled Persons) during their schooling.
‘When a person registered as a job seeker obtains administrative recognition of their disability (RQTH, Recognition of the Quality of Disabled Worker), the France Travail operator will be automatically informed.
The CGT warns this is a government device for cheap labour.
A wealth of precarious workers
‘Through this recognition, the operator will be able to guide the person into the so-called ‘protected’ environment of ESATs or Adapted Companies, where labour law, the minimum wage, and social security contributions still do not exist.
‘Indeed, companies employing disabled workers in the so-called ‘protected’ environment are recognised as medico-social establishments, even though the latter achieve significant turnover.
For whom the profits?
‘This broad extension of the concept of disabled workers, provided for by the bill, is also a boon for private sector employers: all companies with more than 20 employees are required to hire 6% of workers disabled in their workforce, under penalty of paying a financial contribution.
‘The massive influx of new workers automatically recognised as disabled, without their consent, will allow employers to escape financial penalties.
Disabled workers must be the equal of all workers
‘For the CGT:
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- The loss of autonomy should no longer be a discriminating element in the company;
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- It is not up to humans to adapt to work.
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- This involves strengthening the layout of workstations, occupational medicine that can fulfil its functions, the prohibition of dismissals for incapacity, truly accessible workplaces, a right to early retirement, etc.
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- Work should not be a source of disability: it is necessary to develop occupational health prevention policies and recognition of hardship.’
Local temperature records were set on Tuesday at several monitoring stations in the south of France including in the Alps and Pyrenees mountains, the French weather office said.
Meteo France said a record 29.5 degrees Celsius (85 degrees Fahrenheit) had been reached in the Alpine ski resort of Alpe d’Huez, which sits at an altitude of 1,860 metres (6,100 feet).
In Verdun in the foothills of the Pyrenees, 40.6C had been recorded for the first time.
Other local heat records were set in Renno in the hills of Corsica (38.3°C) as well as Aups (38.6°C) and Vauvenargues (37.3°C) in the far south of the country.
Most of France has been spared the worst of the record heatwave scorching southern Europe, with only seven out of 96 mainland departments currently on an orange alert for heat, one down from the highest level.
France experienced a scorching summer last year, with local records set across the country.
La CGT issued a statement on Tuesday: ‘The issue of forest fires is becoming more and more burning.
‘The summer of 2022 saw more than 71,000 hectares go up in smoke, causing the evacuation of more than 48,000 people – unheard of in France since the end of the Second World War.
‘The year 2022 was marked by the expansion of the areas affected by forest fires.
‘The scenario of this black year is destined to repeat itself in the future.
‘Indeed, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change) warns that one of the major impacts of global warming is the multiplication and amplification of forest fires.
‘Through the CO2 they release, they in turn aggravate global warming, and thus a vicious circle is set up with disastrous economic and ecological consequences.
‘For the actors involved in this fight, the floodgates are open!
‘Faced with this threat, the means of the various actors acting against forest fires have been considerably reduced:
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- the National Forestry Office (ONF) has seen its workforce decrease from 15,000 agents to 8,000 in less than forty years, and 500 additional job cuts are planned by 2025;
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- Météo France , the official public service for meteorology and climatology, whose competence is essential in terms of fire risk and global warming, has lost a third of its workforce (about 1,200 jobs) in fifteen years;
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- the departmental fire and rescue services (SDIS), in charge of the management of firefighters at the departmental level, deplore a significant lack of agents trained for the specialty ‘forest fires’, the withdrawal since 2006 of approximately one thousand forest fire tankers (CFF) and the visible trend towards an increase in response times.
Our proposals:
‘Better prevention against forest fires:
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- increase the number of actors playing a role in the prevention and forecasting of forest fires (State services, local authorities, ONF, Météo France, etc.);
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- redefine planning and urbanisation policies (distance between dwellings and forests, planting hardwoods on the edge of the forest, reassessment of firebreak strategies) and better enforce them.
‘More ways to fight fires:
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- strengthen the staff of SDIS (Departmental Fire and Rescue Service) throughout France;
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- facilitate the release of volunteer firefighters by their employers, without them having to take leave;
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- consider the campaigns of professional firefighters as work time, and not as time taken during their holidays;
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- renew, strengthen and modernise the equipment and vehicles (CFF, Canadair, etc.) of the fire brigade;
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- initiate reflection on the design and production of a water bomber aircraft in France.
‘A wood-forest sector that meets environmental challenges:
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- Provide the wood-forest sector with the means necessary for the proper functioning of its four missions:
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- preservation of the natural space against fire,
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- forest exploitation and maintenance,
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- promotion of the transformation and use of wood,
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- preservation of natural landscapes and development of a high quality of public reception, in safety.
‘Public management of forests and other natural areas:
‘To put in place an effective strategy against forest fires, undermined by the fragmentation of responsibilities and the privatisation of many missions, the CGT proposes the creation of a public pole of the forest and natural spaces bringing together all the components States concerned by this theme as well as the ONF (National Forests Office).’