From September 12 to 18, the Clinique du Parc in Belleville, in the
20th arrondissement of Paris, was on strike. All professions combinedand despite the difficulties inherent in the health sector, 50% of its
staff had stopped working and there was a lively picket in front of the
establishment. ---- This private clinic is managed by the CLINEA EMEIS
group ("together" in Greek), formerly ORPEA. This group was hit by a
huge scandal, brought to light in 2022 thanks to the investigative book
Les Fossoyeurs by Victor Castanet, who is now working on the scandal of
private daycare centers. Following revelations about the working
conditions of its employees and the conditions of care for the elderly
people entrusted to it, ORPEA had to change its name to be forgotten.
But, beyond communication and high-sounding slogans: "Commitment to
humanity, a taste for life, a thirst for learning, a spirit of mutual
aid!", has it changed its practices? For the strikers at the Belleville
Park clinic, this is their first strike. No one is unionized, but
everyone is determined and full of energy. "We're fed up with numbers
taking precedence over needs!" Their strength: united in
interprofessional, they make decisions together in general meetings.
This local movement intends to weigh in on the NAO (mandatory annual
negotiations) that take place at the end of September, to increase
salaries. For the time being, it's about creating jobs, but EMEIS always
responds that its pockets are empty; there are always too many staff,
which shifts the responsibility for the situation onto the payroll while
the company is making a profit. The group's annual growth since 2024 is
11%. Reduce costs to earn more! In the structures, equipment is missing
or defective. A building is dilapidated with delayed repairs, leaks in
the rooms, mold. Four floors, and only three night nurses. No training,
and yet it is due. In short, a deplorable state of affairs.
Before starting their movement, the strikers asked themselves together
how far they were willing to go to win. They distributed leaflets on the
floors, to also talk about it with the 94 residents and explain their
demands to them. All the residents supported them, and pushed them to go
all the way. They were the ones who gave them the idea of making a
petition and a kitty. It strengthened them, motivated them.
"I have been an occupational therapist for more than two years. I made
the decision with my colleagues to go on strike, it's not necessarily a
pleasure, but we didn't have much choice. When you have no management
and when you're not listened to by your employers, it's not easy to
work. I'm confronted daily with the distress of caregivers and the
dysfunctions. We're all on strike to also improve the living and working
conditions of our colleagues on the floors, in the kitchens, everyone."
"I'm elected to the regional CSE[social and economic committee], an
employee of EMEIS in Clamart. I'm here to lend support. The findings are
shared at the national level, and I hope that this movement will spread
and motivate others. It's been ten years since there was any protest.
Without a memory of struggle, employees think that they can't do
anything. It's inspiring, there's support from the union, a kitty has
been set up. Being in a struggle is concrete and we are not alone. It is
not enough to complain, we must go and ask for accountability. "
"I am a physiotherapist, newly elected to the CSE, so I was able to
visit other clinics where I was able to see that we were faced with the
same problems. Faced with the systematic refusal of the This private
clinic is managed by the CLINEA EMEIS group ("together" in Greek),
formerly ORPEA. This group was hit by a huge scandal, brought to light
in 2022 thanks to the investigative book Les Fossoyeurs by Victor
Castanet, who is now working on the scandal of private nurseries.
Following the revelations about the working conditions of its employees
and the conditions of care for the elderly people entrusted to it, ORPEA
had to change its name to be forgotten. But, beyond communication and
high-sounding slogans: "Commitment to humanity, a taste for life, a
thirst for learning, a spirit of mutual aid!", has he changed his practices?
For the strikers at the Belleville Park clinic, this is their first
strike. No one is unionized, but everyone is determined and full of
energy. "We're fed up with numbers taking precedence over needs!" Their
strength: united as an interprofessional, they make decisions together
in a general meeting. This local movement intends to influence the NAO
(mandatory annual negotiations) that take place at the end of September,
to increase salaries. For the time being, it's about creating jobs, but
EMEIS always responds that its pockets are empty; there are always too
many staff, which shifts the responsibility for the situation onto the
payroll while the company is making a profit. The group's annual growth
since 2024 is 11%. Reduce costs to earn more! In the structures,
equipment is missing or defective. A building is dilapidated with
delayed repairs, leaks in the rooms, mold. Four floors, and only three
night nurses. No training, and yet it is due. In short, a deplorable
state of affairs.
Before starting their movement, the strikers asked themselves together
how far they were prepared to go to win. They distributed leaflets on
the floors, to also talk about it with the 94 residents and explain
their demands to them. All the residents supported them, and pushed them
to go all the way. They were the ones who gave them the idea of making a
petition and a kitty. It strengthened them, motivated them.
Testimonials:
"I have been an occupational therapist for over two years. I made the
decision with my colleagues to go on strike, it is not necessarily a
pleasure, but we did not have much choice. When you have no management
and when you are not listened to by your employers, it is not easy to
work. I am confronted daily with the distress of the caregivers and the
dysfunctions. We are all on strike to improve the living and working
conditions of our colleagues on the floors, in the kitchens, and
everyone." "I am an elected member of the regional CSE[social and
economic committee], an employee of EMEIS in Clamart. I am here to lend
support. The findings are shared at the national level, and I hope that
this movement will spread and motivate others. There has been no protest
for ten years. With no memory of struggle, employees think that they
can't do anything. It is inspiring, there is support from the union, a
kitty has been set up. Being in struggle is concrete and we are not
alone. It is not enough to complain, we must listen to our demands, take
into account our petition, signed by 70% of employees (permanent and
fixed-term contracts combined), I decided to participate with my
colleagues in organizing a local action, to strike hard before the NAO.
It's not easy in the healthcare professions to go on strike, that's why
there were no nurses or nursing assistants in the movement, our
professional ethics are playing tricks on us."
"I've been a physiotherapist at the Belleville clinic for a year. And
since our repeated requests for night nursing assistants, the
replacement of defective equipment, nothing has changed. I signed up for
this job because there's a very good team, very young and motivated, who
want to work well, and we're frustrated because we don't have the
necessary resources. Our jobs overlap: if the patients aren't ready, if
they're not washed, I can't do my job."
"I'm a sports rehabilitation therapist, there's only one
stretcher-bearer, for years. He can't get everyone to the different
activities, so we're the ones who do it. We are doing "job shifting",
they say, and we are fulfilling a mission that is not ours. After two
days of strike, they offered a part-time stretcher-bearer on trial!"
"I have been a kitchen assistant for twelve years and I earn 50 euros
more than the minimum wage. There are three of us, so not enough. I was
fighting alone; when I saw that there was a movement with the CGT, we
followed them. In the kitchen, we are a close-knit team that does not
give up."
As is often the case, it is they, the most exploited, who have been the
most determined.
First of all, hiring (a stretcher-bearer, a nurse and a night nursing
assistant, an occupational therapist, a neuropsychologist), to respond
to the ever-present desire to reduce positions, in both the public and
private sectors. According to a leak, it would be a question of having
one nurse for 60 patients in the follow-up and rehabilitation clinic,
and one for 40 in psychiatry by eliminating nursing assistants. A
"rebalancing" of the accounts to satisfy the shareholders...
Secondly, a reassessment of salaries taking into account seniority.
After a week of strike: 11 pay increases, remuneration for all tasks,
creation of a full-time stretcher-bearer position.
A health and safety engineer came to list the dysfunctions, and it is
long; many orders for equipment have been placed. EMEIS was surely
afraid of unflattering publicity that would harm its accreditation by
the State. It took a determined strike for things to move and for what
seemed impossible to come true.
A month later, the hard core walked out again and called for a national
movement during the next NAO to talk about wages.
Nadia M.
P.S.
You can listen to the September 17, 2024 program dedicated to this
strike on l'actualitedesluttes.info.
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4298
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