Nurseries, schools, municipal health centers and administrative services will be closed this Thursday, the day of the strike against civil service reform. A movement supported by the town hall which also intends to protest against the finance bill.
The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection
Every day, our editorial team reserves the best regional news for you. A selection just for you, to stay in touch with your regions.
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you the newsletter “The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection”. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. Our privacy policy
“Without public service, we are deprived of everything.” This is the watchword in Fontenay-sous-Bois. For the strike of December 5, the municipality of Val-de-Marne plans to close the “almost all” of its public services.
“We must show that a city without its public services is an extinct city“, indicates Maud Riefolo member of the local collective”Save public service“who is organizing the mobilization with the town hall. Thus, there will be no crèches, leisure centers, physical meetings with the mayor or swimming in the municipal swimming pool on this strike day.”We want there to be general awareness among the population of the importance of public services.”indicates Maud Riefolo, sector manager in a leisure center, on strike this Thursday.
According to the municipality, this temporary closure is a way of combating a permanent closure of certain public services.
“Closing the swimming pool, municipal health centers or daycare centers is a no-no for us“, we read in particular on poster campaigns posted in town. “I know the challenge of not being able to access our public services during this day. Through this we want to show how essential they are“, notes the NFP mayor of the town, Jean-Philippe Gautrais.
Only a few services will remain open. “We will maintain the civil status procedures and some consultations in the municipal health center”, specifies the mayor.
Through this mobilization, the town hall intends to express its disagreement with the finance bill planned by the government. “This will withdraw 5 billion euros from local authorities. For our city, this will be 3 million euros less on the 2025 municipal budget. This could force us to close public services and we do not want that.“, believes the mayor.
The councilor defends the importance of public services in his municipality. “A municipality without public sports and cultural facilities, without solidarity and education policy, without care or cleaning systems, without investment for ecological transition, where everything is governed by for-profit companies at prices excluding an entire part of the population… is this really the model of society we want?“, he asks.
The mayor fears that the deterioration of public services will primarily affect children, vulnerable populations and the most precarious. “Working conditions are increasingly complicated for public officials. This is likely to get worse with civil service reform. Because of this, it is the future of our children, the standard of living of the most precarious that is threatened“, according to the mayor. He cites in particular the importance of access to daycare centers for children and the distribution of meals for the elderly.”which allows us to maintain social connections.“
The mayor also deplores that the city councilors are “constantly those who are asked to save money as we strive to have a balanced budget each year.”
This Thursday's civil service strike should be strongly followed in several public sectors. Teachers from Île-de-France will mobilize in particular in large numbers. Several hundred nursery and primary schools will be closed.
This day of mobilization is organized at the call of the inter-union against civil service reform.
