Joint AFP Union Statement: Strike on March 31 against social regression

The government’s labor law will result in the destruction of worker’s rights!
At AFP, it has already begun with the "Grand Accord"
STRIKE ON MARCH 31 AGAINST SOCIAL REGRESSION

If the government’s proposed labor law comes into force, it will become possible for companies to strike deals that ignore the legal guarantees that today protect employees in terms of working hours, compensation (in particular overtime pay), termination of employment as well as work safety.

At AFP, we’ve seen the same logic at work with the brutal renouncement by the CEO of all the agency’s labor agreements that define our benefits. The collective agreement that management has proposed reduces our benefits while increasing working hours.

If the El Khomri law is adopted, AFP’s management will have even more latitude to impose cuts in benefits and longer working hours.

This logic of social regression is unacceptable, at AFP as well as all of France.
No cosmetic changes, as the government has made to its proposal, can make acceptable the reversal of the social progress that France has achieved over the past century.

As the tens of thousands of youths and workers who have taken to the streets in the past weeks have said: the El Khomri law can’t be fixed. It must be withdrawn.

The CGT, FO, SUD and CFE-CGC unions call on AFP staff to hold a 24-hour strike on Thursday, March 31 from 00:00 as part of a national strike call and day of demonstrations against the El Khomri law.

AFP employees are urged to attend a Staff Assembly on Thursday, March 31 at 10:30 at the news editorial hall on rue Vivienne and then participate in the demonstration which begins at 14:00 at Place d’Italie.

AFP employees are urged meet at 13:00 in front of the Agency, travel together to the rally and to participate in the march under a joint banner.

Paris, 25 March 2016