Closed glass doors in the emergency room of the Amiens Cardiology and Emergency Clinic. Its employees are following the call for an unlimited strike launched by the CFDT and the UNSA, active since Monday June 17, 2024 at 8 p.m. A mobilization of private caregivers to request the application of amendment 33. This agreement signed last year was to increase their salary from 200 to 300 euros net per month on January 1, 2024.
But this measure, which would reduce salary gaps with the public, ultimately fell by the wayside, because neither the State nor the clinics wanted to finance it. So 9 out of 10 caregivers at the clinic are mobilized, and say they are ready to continue the movement. “It’s up to the one who gets the least amount of money.”, quips François-Xavier, a caregiver for 15 years in the clinic. “What we would like is for them to respect us at some point, and for them to assume their commitment, that’s all.”
“I earn 400 to 500 euros less than in the public”
“I have worked in the private sector since I startedtestifies François-Xavier, and for equal experience I earn 400 to 500 euros less than my friends in the public.” He earns 1,800 euros net per month, with night work, every other weekend, and public holidays. “With inflation, it’s getting complicated to pay the bills”, testifies Geoffrey, a stretcher bearer who has also been with the company for 15 years. With a daughter to support, his monthly salary of 1,600 euros net is not enough.
Martin Duffaut
For nursing assistants, stretcher bearers and hospital service agents, the collective agreement of these private clinics provides salaries that start below the minimum wage. Everything is supplemented by bonuses, obtained during the Ségur de la santé in 2020, and financed by the State. So for these employees, it is now up to their employer to take out the wallet. “We have to put our hands in our pockets because we will end up going to the public hospital”warns Geoffrey.
“We’re going to leave eventually.”
The stretcher bearer also says he is already looking for a job in the public sector, but without success. “My job is one of the few in health where places are expensive, because it is a job without training,” explains Geoffrey. François-Xavier does not want to leave, because “Here it’s a structure on a human scale, which I don’t think I’ll find there”.
The call for a strike was also followed by employees of the Sainte Isabelle clinic in Abbeville, owned by the Pauchet Santé group. According to the CFDT, 70 employees out of 160 walked off the job. Tuesday June 18 afternoon, they received a visit from François Ruffin, outgoing deputy for the 2nd constituency of the Somme, which includes Abbeville.
Six employees of the Ercheu nursing home, owned by the Korian group, are also mobilized. The movement is followed on Tuesday June 18 by around a hundred clinics in the country according to the CFDT.
