Rhône firefighters wall up the entrance to the SDMIS headquarters

This Monday morning, the firefighters and administrative, technical and specialized personnel (PATS) of the Rhône Departmental-Metropolitan Fire and Rescue Service (SDMIS) took strong action to attract attention. They erected a wall at the entrance to their headquarters, located on rue Rabelais in Lyon, in order to once again denounce working conditions that they describe as “unacceptable”.

In their press release, the firefighters denounce a “deterioration of the working conditions of SDMIS agents” and regret “the absence of a concrete response from management and authorities to the demands expressed for several weeks.” Despite attempts at social dialogue, they believe that “local authorities remain deaf to the requests of their teams.”

The firefighters also mention the recent visit of the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, to Givors, who did not take the time to meet the representatives of the firefighters despite “several official requests”, and criticize the lack of concrete actions by the Minister of the Interior.

The main demands of the firefighters include additional staff to cope with the increase in interventions and population growth, as well as a salary increase. In response to requests that went unheeded, firefighters are worried about their own safety and that of the population, saying “we are in danger and so are the population”.