Water, Equality, France

Trade unions have welcomed the legislation that will see a doubling of the entitlement to paternity leave from 14 to 28 days, including three compulsory days around the time of birth. The measure will be implemented from July 2021. Although unions have been calling for even longer leave, they see this as an important step in the right direction and an important initiative to increase the share of parenting between men and women. Employers cover three days of leave while the rest will be funded by social security and employers will face fines if they deny workers their rights.

The pay freeze and job cuts in the public sector have prompted action by some unions in February with the CGT taking strike action on the 5th and FO organising a week of action 3-10 February with a national demonstration on the 7th. Their principal demands focus on unfreezing pay, stopping the job cuts but there are also broader demands about the minimum wage and a fairer tax system. Fairness is also one of the factors behind the unions' joint call for strike action across the energy, water and waste company Veolia which employs 50000 workers in France. The CFDT, CFC, CFT and FO are calling

Public service unions report a massive response to their call for a day of protest and strike action on 22 March against government plans for the public sector. While the unions are calling for a wide range of measures to support statutory employment rights, increase pay, reduce precarious employment, improve career development, the government response has been to talk about reforming existing social dialogue structures, weaking the statutory system and extending individualisation of pay. Following the abortive meeting with the government on 3 April, unions will meet on 10 April to discuss how

Trade unions at the Veolia water company are taking strike action over the company's plans for restructuring - the fourth in only three years. These will impact on over 1500 posts with 572 specified as job cuts. The unions are particularly angry that the company is talking about compulsory redundancies. This would be a first for the sector. The unions want the company to withdraw this threat and to properly negotiate over the changes with a view to providing workers with training and retraining opportunities.

Unions at the Veolia water company have announced strike action in protest at the company's latest plans for restructuring, the fourth in three years. The unions are angry that a further 572 jobs are due to go by 2019 after 2000 have already been cut since 2014. They are particularly concerned that this time the company has not ruled out compulsory redundancies which the unions say would be the first for the sector. The unions say the cuts aren't justified in terms of the company's economic performance and they want the company to withdraw the threat of compulsory redundancies and begin a

(July 2017) Four unions at the Veolia water company took strike action on 3 July in a protest at the company's announcement of a plan for job cuts. The unions have called for negotiation of a proper plan for training and retraining and have rejected compulory redundancies with a call to defend local jobs. The unions involved in include the CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC and UNSA.

(November 2016) Four of the trade union organisations in public services (CGT, FAFP, FSU and Solidaires) are mobilising for a day of action on 29 November. They are raising a number of long-standing demands including pay increases to compensate for loss of purchasing power since 2010, action to improve pay for jobs and sectors dominated by women to close the gender pay gap and measures to reduce precarious working conditions and defend working time arrangements.