International Mobility reform: Deceptive and Discriminatory

Management recently published the first batch of posts under the new international mobility system that it forced through over the opposition of trade unions. We didn’t have to wait long to see some of our fears come true. A journalist received the conditions for one of the posts, which not only disappointed the candidate financially, but were deceptive. They raise concerns that management may be reducing guarantees on returning to France and that it may engage in discriminatory practices to reduce applications. Journalists need to act to push back against these reforms as we can clearly see they will reduce our professional opportunities.

With the stated goal of saving €6 million, a reduction in the packages offered to candidates for the new “mobility” status were always going to disappoint financially as housing is no longer covered. Another major change is that these contracts are local – paid in the local currency. That opens up the journalist to the risk of inflation, which can be high in certain countries such as Turkey. HR’s mail acknowledged this concern:

We are fully aware of the high inflation in Turkey and the devaluation of the Turkish lira (which has, however, been stabilizing over the past year). For this reason, significant salary adjustment measures have been implemented across the entire office each year. Given the particularly high inflation over the last two years, we have fully offset it plus an additional 2% – an unprecedented move for the Agency.

That is the truth, but not the whole truth.

The contract that guaranteed above inflation wage hikes is no longer in force and our Turkish colleagues are on strike because management has refused to continue with above inflation wage hikes. With real inflation running around 50%, AFP is refusing to compensate for official inflation of around 30%. SUD wholeheartedly supports the strike of our Turkish colleagues to get a hike slightly above the official inflation rate, which is legitimate. But as we see, their struggle is increasingly our struggle as international mobility will increasingly be on local contracts.

The deceptive nature of management’s information to candidates is unacceptable.

No to “elastic” guarantees!

This is followed by a guarantee of the right to return to France – which the French call the “elastic” clause. However, it only covers the initial three years of the contract, not cover the possible extension of the contract for two years. The project that management presented to trade unions included a guarantee to return to France for the full five years of the contract. This is either an unacceptable error by HR or an unacceptable reduction of guarantees by management. We can’t accept “elastic” guarantees.

We welcome the fact the journalist received the detailed conditions of the post before applying. This is a normal and necessary practice. Alas, management has not promised to do so, reserving the right to give full information to only those who apply. But as we see, it may furnish certain candidates with that information. That introduces the possibility of discrimination into the selection process by discouraging certain candidates from applying by not providing them the financial conditions. This is unacceptable and we urge management to declare that it will provide detailed information on the financial conditions of mobility posts to all journalists who inquire.

Management must acknowledge the faulty implementation of its mobility reform and publicly engage to respect elementary norms of transparency. SUD sought reforms to improve the mobility candidature process in 2024 and unfortunately we received zero support. We’re paying the price now for a lack of action, which allowed management to push through its reactivity pole reform that we fear will be the tool to cut Paris production posts. These projects may have been presented in due form to the CSE, but that does not mean all is lost. We can and must express our opposition to these reforms that will likely lead to a reduction in our professional opportunities. If we want to defend our profession and our career prospects, we must take action.

Paris, July 16, 2026

SUD-AFP (Solidarity-Unity-Democracy)