Health, Energy, France

Eight public service trade unions – CFDT, CFE-CGC, CGT, FA, FO, FSU, Solidaires and UNSA – met on 24 January and issued a joint communique condemning the absence of any measures to increase public service pay, particularly in context of sustained inflation. The unions are calling for immediate negotiations to address issues around careers and salaries and have rejected President Emmanual Macron’s talk of better recognizing "merit" as a tactic to avoid the urgent need to improve pay and conditions. The unions have set 19 March as a national day of action, including strikes and other protests

Eight public service federations – CFDT, CFE-CGC, CGT, FA, FO, FSU, Solidaires and UNSA – have issued a joint statement on the need for urgent action to improve pay for civil servants and public sector employees. The unions argue that the five index-point increase for public sector workers implemented this year was already foreseen in 2023 and that no further increase is planned for 2024. The government has given no indication that any negotiations will take place to cover 2024 and in the light of this the unions were due to meet this month to consider what action to take, with the prospect of

The health unions CGT Santé et Action Sociale, FO Santé and UNSA Santé et Sociaux organised protests and strike action on 16 November in support of a range of demands for better pay and conditions, action on staffing and other issues. The unions are demanding measures to improve training and recruitment; a general pay rise; gender equality; increased funding for facilities and staff and a halt to all closures of establishments, services and beds. Better early retirement pension provision for arduous work and withdrawal of the new law on pensions were also part of the demands. EPSU sent a

After six weeks of strike action the CGT trade union has secured a monthly increase of €200 for workers in the GRDF gas distribution company. The first increases will be implemented in January with increases ranging from a minimum of €50 up to and €87. The CGT is concerned about any attempt to intimidate strikers and has warned GRDF's management against any action that could be taken against striking employees, whether in terms of disciplinary

In the main (IEG) electricity and gas sector negotiations the CGT, CFDT and FO unions have agreed a 2.3% increase on the basic national salary for 2023 with a minimum guaranteed increase of €1040 for the year (€80 on the monthly salary over 13 months), along with individualised increases worth 1%. The CFE-CGC union refused to sign arguing that the increase was inadequate. The negotiations followed mobilisations by the unions earlier in the autumn demanding pay negotiations to address the cost of living crisis and the increases come in addition to the extra bonuses paid this year in response to

The CGT and FO confederations organised demonstrations across France on 18 October calling for action to increase pay across all sectors, including an increase in the minimum wage. Their demands also covered pensions and social security and defence of the right to strike. The unions estimate that around 300,000 people joined the 180 actions around the country with 70,000 participating in the main demonstration in Paris. Also on the 18th, the CFDT organised strike action in the private health and care sector in protest at stagnating salaries in the face of increased profits for the big private

Trade unions in several sectors have planned action this autumn over jobs, pay and pensions. The CGT has called for protests and strikes across France on 29 September in response to the cost-of-living crisis with calls to increase pay, a minimum wage of €2000 a month and moves towards a 32-hour working week. Meanwhile, energy unions, including FNME-CGT, FO-FNEM and CFE Énergies have rejected the latest pay offer from the electricity employers and are planning action on 6 October. In the care sector, FO mobilised workers in residential elderly care on 27 September to demand recognition of

Trade unions representing health staff are planning protest action in September to highlight the major problems faced by the sector. They highlight the closures of beds and facilities that are reducing services to the public and are calling urgently for action on recruitment and training of staff and to deliver improvements to pay and conditions to make the sector more attractive to work in. The CFDT, UNSA and FO federations will meet in early September to confirm their plans while the CGT has already set 22 September as a date for national action.

As of 1 July, the index point used to calculate public sector salaries was increased by 3.5%. This is the first increase in the index since 2010 and while welcomed by trade unions, they underline the fact that the increase neither compensates for current inflation nor begins to compensate for long periods when the index has been frozen. The CGT has called for an increase of 10% while FO points out that there is a long-term fall in purchasing power of 25% that needs to be addressed. Both the CFDT and UNSA see the increase as inadequate but a first step.

The energy federations of the CGT, CFDT, FO and CFE-CGC report widespread and strong support for their strike action on 2 June. The unions want energy sector employers to agree to immediate negotiations over pay. The unions regard the 0.3% pay increase implemented in January of this year as completely unacceptable and that an immediate increase of 4.5% is needed to help compensate for increased prices but negotiations are also needed to address several years of below-inflation pay rises. The unions issued a joint statement indicating the strength of feeling among workers and the unions’ clear

Trade unions in the energy sector are planning strike action on Thursday 2 June over the erosion of purchasing power of their members. In a joint statement, they criticise the employers in the sector for failing to agree a timetable to negotiate and for applying an increase of only 0.3% on the basic national salary in January this year when inflation was already at 4.5%. The unions also highlight the fact that energy sector pay has not kept pace with inflation over many years and they are demanding an immediate increase of 4.5%.