Radio France unions have called for a strike on Sunday May 12 to protest against “the repression of insolence and humor” after the suspension of Guillaume Meurice, as well as against ” threats “ which weigh on certain France Inter broadcasts.
Six unions (CGT, CFDT, FO, SNJ, SUD, Unsa) filed strike notice on Monday, May 6 evening for Sunday from 00:00 to midnight. This is the day on which Charline Vanhoenacker’s weekly show is broadcast, in which Guillaume Meurice usually participates.
The comedian was suspended on May 2 pending a possible sanction which could go as far as dismissal, four days after having reiterated his controversial remarks about Benjamin Netanyahu made at the end of October. He compared the Israeli prime minister to a “kind of a Nazi but without a foreskin”which earned him accusations of anti-Semitism and a complaint, recently dismissed.
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“Repression of insolence”
In their strike notice, the unions ask the management of the public group “the end of the repression of insolence and humor” And “the limitless reaffirmation of freedom of expression” on its antennae. More broadly, unions are concerned about ” threat “ which weigh according to them “on popular and unique shows”in particular on France Inter.
On May 3, in the wake of the Meurice affair, the societies of journalists (SDJ) and producers (SDPI) of France Inter denounced “an editorial shift” from the first radio in France. They claimed in particular to have learned of the upcoming replacement of the program on the environment “The Earth Squared”.
The unions accuse the management of Radio France of carrying out “a policy of social destruction on the air” while a “public broadcasting reform project will soon be discussed in the National Assembly”. Project of the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, the establishment of a single governance for public audiovisual (including France Télévisions and Radio France) will be examined on May 23 and 24 in the hemicycle.
The unions finally castigate “a campaign of denigration and slander orchestrated by political parties, organizations or personalities frankly hostile to the public service of radio”. The latter is frequently accused by right-wing figures of leaning clearly to the left.
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