the essential
The CGT union of the Ariège departmental council is protesting against the calling into question of commitments to reduce working hours.
The CGT union of the Ariège departmental council has filed a strike notice since Monday, November 4, 2024. A movement which could disrupt the functioning of colleges. “The dispute concerns the questioning by Ms. Téqui (Editor's note, president of the department) of commitments she made when setting up working time regulations with regard to college agents. Despite the absence of the slightest doubt during discussions with our union, despite multiple writings attesting to her commitments, Ms. Téqui claims today to have never made them,” the union wrote in a press release.
The dispute arises from exemptions aimed at reducing the annual working time, set at 1,607 hours, for civil service agents. Hours which could be reduced under certain conditions. “The departmental council had the possibility of applying the Macron laws granting eight days of leave to all staff or of applying the measures of constraints. That is to say, taking into account factors such as arduousness or even atypical hours to reduce the obligation of 1,607 hours by a few hours”, specifies Jocelyne Chausson, secretary of the CGT09 union.
“It’s a step backwards on what was granted to us”
If the departmental council refused to implement these constraints, it would have accepted them for two services: the departmental veterinary laboratory and college staff. “Christine Téqui was committed to granting a reduction in time of 36 hours over the year,” says Jocelyne Chausson. To this exemption, according to the union, should be added the split days, namely two additional days of leave which would represent 14 hours. And it is on this point that tensions crystallize.
According to Christine Téqui, president of the department, the 14 hours would be included in the 36 hours, while the union considers these two provisions as two distinct rights. “It’s a step backwards on what was granted to us. We have writings from him which attest to that,” reprimands the trade unionist. In a letter addressed to the unions, the president of the department attempts to clarify the misunderstanding, explaining that the reduction in working hours has been integrated into the new calculations. The standoff continues…
