One of France's largest public sector unions, which represents thousands of hospital staff, threatened Olympic-sized strikes during the Summer Games in Paris, urging the government to "take immediate action" to meet its demands over pay and working conditions, according to a report.
The general secretary of the CGT, Sophie Binet, told French media on Thursday that the union will submit a strike notice early next month during the Games scheduled for July and August when tourism officials expect 15.9 million people to visit the Paris metropolitan area, the Associated Press reported. The Paralympic will be held in August and September.
"We want the government to take immediate action to ensure the success of the Games," Binet said, the Associated Press reported. "For this to happen, our warnings must be heeded and the Games must be prepared from a social point of view. We've been saying the same thing for months now, and no one cares. It's getting very tiresome."
Binet said the games will put an inordinate amount of stress on the workforce, raising issues such as compensating workers for overtime and the loss of vacation days, especially since the Olympics coincide with the national holiday season, as well as assistance finding child care and housing.
"What are the social conditions of this work?" she asked. "How are we going to accommodate all the workers who will have to come to (the Paris region) for the Olympics? How are we going to take care of their children when they're the ones who have to work? What kind of bonuses will they get?"
Another point of contention is the bonuses of up to $2,000 France's interior minister has offered police to work during the Games.
"Why can't other public sector workers have the same bonuses?...Is there a hierarchy between police and hospital workers?" Binet said.
"How do you think hospitals will operate during the Games? Millions of extra visitors are expected in Paris and there are no additional means allocated to Paris region hospitals," she added.
Binet described the state of hospitals as "catastrophic" and called on the government to immediately increase funding so health care workers will be able to accommodate the massive amounts of visitors this summer.
"We are very, very, very worried about how it will be this summer. It won't be possible to blackmail staff once again by asking them to work more overtime and call into question their paid leave. They are exhausted, and can't take it anymore. We need a recruitment plan," she said.
Paris Olympics organizing committee chairman Tony Estanguet last month sought a "social truce" from the unions against striking during the Olympics.
