On strike, firefighters enter the Metropolis of Lyon

On strike since Tuesday, October 1, the firefighters of the Metropolis of Lyon and the Rhône are mobilized with the local communities by which they consider themselves “invisible“. According to our information, out of around a hundred participants in a mobile rally, around forty of them entered the Hôtel de Métropole located in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon, to make their anger heard.

A delegation received by the Metropolis and the department

They criticize the Métropole de Lyon, as well as the department, for the removal of a housing bonus.history of more than 50 years“following a report from the Regional Chamber of Accounts published on June 21, 2023 indicating that the latter is not based on any”own legal basis“. A decision that the president of the SDMIS justified in a letter she sent to them: “The non-application of this recommendation is likely to call into question my criminal and financial liability as well as those of any actor having knowledge of this irregularity, under the provisions of the financial jurisdictions code.“

A delegation was thus received by the general management of the Metropolis of Lyon, indicates the entourage of the environmentalist president. According to several sources, at least one glass door was damaged at the community’s headquarters. Another internal source also mentions altercations between agents and firefighters. Immediately, they went to the Rhône department, located in the same building as the prefecture. This time no intrusion took place and representatives of the movement were also received there. The firefighters were also received at the SDMIS at the end of the morning, tells us a member of the South union, and are awaiting a meeting with the Rhône prefect.

The SDMIS wants to continue “the implementation of the memorandum of understanding initiated in 2024“

This social movement among firefighters also follows the absence of a bonus for the profession during the Paris Olympic Games, “despite reduced annual leave for 1,070 professional firefighters” deplores the South union in a press release. The Métropole de Lyon and the Rhône department were invited by the State to finance 50% of a bonus of €700. But the communities felt they were unable to make such an effort without guaranteed support from the State And the South union added: “All of management’s promises are now void. However, there were firm commitments on their part to open negotiations for purchasing power, the recruitment of young firefighter recruits and to resolve the too numerous and serious operational dysfunctions.“

In a press release released on September 30, the president of the SDMIS, Zémorda Khelifi assures that she “fully measures the impacts“of the abolition of the compensatory housing allowance, and says to stay”determined to seek favorable conditions for the continued implementation of the memorandum of understanding initiated in 2024“. The SDMIS also recalls evolving in “a tense budgetary context“, which concerns all the communities which finance it, in particular the Métropole de Lyon which is facing a significant reduction in transfer taxes.

Read also: Public finances: Lyon communities on a lean regime

President Zémorda Khelifi also relies on the State, while Prime Minister Michel Barnier announced the resumption of Beauvau civil security: “It is urgent that this Beauvau can result in strong proposals from the State“, she says. And concludes: “The president of the SDMIS remains more mobilized than ever to bring about the necessary developments in our civil security model, at the national level, with the financiers of the SDMIS and the parliamentarians of the Rhône, whom she has involved for more than 2 years in her efforts with the state.“