The inter-union made up of the CGT, SUD and FO of the Department of Haute-Garonne has filed a strike notice. The reason for the anger: a “social plan of unprecedented violence”.
The unions denounce “anti-social measures”. Like other communities, the Departmental Council of Haute-Garonne will have to make arbitrations to get to the heart of the Barnier government's 2025 Finance Bill (PLF). The latter asks them to skip 5 billion euros. “In Haute-Garonne, there are 160 million euros in additional savings that we need to find, we are experiencing a drop in our revenue of more than 253 million euros, we are facing an unprecedented wall of effort which will have dramatic consequences on public services for each citizen, on our essential social protection missions, and in the longer term on public investment”, lamented Sébastien Vincini, the president of the Department, on the occasion of the Conference of the Departments of France in Angers .
And there will also be consequences on the workforce. The community was thus “forced to make painful decisions to reduce the number of contract workers employed by the Departmental Council and reduce expenses linked to payroll,” she indicates in a press release. In fact, of the 160 million savings imposed on it, it has “21 million euros of savings to find in its own human resources operations”. “It’s colossal and it’s required in record time,” notes Sébastien Vincini.
What the Departmental Council unions denounce
And if the Department has “decided to preserve the amount of remuneration of its agents”, it must “reduce the overall workforce of the community”. “Since the Covid crisis, we have greatly developed replacement with the hiring of contract workers. Our payroll has reached a level much higher than that of Departments comparable to ours. We need to return to a sustainable level and reduce the number of agents,” announces the president of the community. But this is not to the taste of the inter-union made up of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), SUD and Force Ouvrière (FO) of the Haute-Garonne Departmental Council. For her, this is a “social plan of unprecedented violence”. In a leaflet distributed to the press, the unions report “500 fewer contract positions”. The community qualifies: “ Between 400 and 500 ».
In addition to this drop in numbers, the unions are protesting against “the revision of the organization of their working time with the disappearance of the formula at 41:25 and the loss of 12 days of RTT.” “For information, this does not generate financial savings because these 12 days are not a gift from the community, but a due for the chosen working time,” they emphasize. The Department indicates that this change in the internal organization of working time should not allow savings, but “ best preserve the continuity of departmental public services “. “Each agent will work the same duration, i.e. 1,607 hours per year, in accordance with the law. But the week at 41:25, which generates 35 days of RTT per year, will be eliminated. The move to a 39-hour week, accompanied by 23 days of RTT, will make it possible to generate 44,000 additional days of presence over a year,” he assesses.
A strike notice filed since November 14
To protest against these measures, the inter-union CGT, SUD and FO of the Department of Haute-Garonne filed unlimited strike notice this Thursday, November 14. It also organized a general meeting this Tuesday, November 19. The aim of this, which brought together 1,162 departmental agents: to decide “the modes of action to take to push back” the community. The inter-union is indeed determined, and is even more so given the fact that civil servants are already targeted by measures that could be taken at national level. “At a time when we are promised three waiting days, the freezing of the index point, the loss of GIPA (Individual Purchasing Power Guarantee, Editor's note) and perhaps a public holiday, the left-wing majority of the Department is adding layers! » estimates the inter-union.
Sébastien Vincini, for his part, declares that the community “is in no way responsible for the situation it is experiencing”. “But, with my executive, we must assume the choices that we are forced to make,” he judges. This Monday, November 18, he met “some of the staff representatives in order to explain in complete transparency the situation of the community”. “I am aware that we are asking a significant individual effort, but it will have a considerable impact for our community. We must collectively take stock of this, in the same spirit of responsibility. The preservation of the Haute-Garonne Departmental Council is at stake,” concludes Sébastien Vincini.
