France: Public sector national strike

Published:

Today, public service workers, including education trade unions stage a national strike action to protest against the draft law “on the Public Service Transformation” in France.

ETUCE stands with teachers and other education personnel in their appeal against the retrogressive education policy that the Ministry of National Education of France is pursuing without consulting education trade unions nor taking into account the but the opinion of the education community as a whole.

Education trade unions in France demand the Ministry of National Education to:

  • increase salaries of education personnel;
  • drop the “Blanquer” Bill and the reforms on lycées and baccalauréat (secondary education level) that imply the reinforcement of inequalities in education;
  • start negotiations with education trade unions.

Calling education authorities of France to recognise education trade unions in France as social partners in a permanent social dialogue, Susan Flocken, ETUCE European Director, stated: “Genuine social dialogue with trade union representatives is an engine of prosperous societies, in particular when it comes to the elaboration of policies that have a direct impact on those who have responsibility to implement them”.