Between 10 a.m. and noon on September 19, temporary staff at the Manufacture de Nancy library gathered in front of the building to stage a strike. The protest was supported by permanent staff and union representatives, including members of the Nancy SUD - SUD Collectivités territoriales 54 union. The strike had been announced several days earlier, as reported by L'Est Républicain. The main demand centers on the status of these employees, who are typically hired to provide public access on weekends. Some have worked at the library for up to four years. The striking workers argue that their roles now require a more stable contractual framework, as their tasks have become more regular and essential to the library's operations. "The temporary staff status is a status of extreme precarity that deprives us of many rights," said Thomas Brun-Bellut, a temporary staff member for two years, interviewed by France 3 Grand Est. He believes that the frequency and nature of their work justify a more permanent arrangement. Before the strike, six of the 16 temporary staff and two union representatives had met with the municipal administration. Chantal Finck, a deputy mayor responsible for public service quality and career management, acknowledged the staff's request for "deprecarization" — reducing the level of precarity in their employment — according to L'Est Républicain. However, she explained that changing their contracts would require a detailed review of each employee's situation and the overall organization of the service. According to Finck, each temporary staff member is needed roughly twice a month, for about 22 hours per month, or about 13% of a full-time position. No specific timeline has yet been set for any potential changes to their status. The strike also highlights concerns over working conditions. Employees have reported several ongoing material issues, some of which have persisted for months. The lift, essential for moving books and other items between floors, has been out of service since February. Air conditioning problems have affected the library during recent summer heatwaves, and public toilets on the third floor have been unavailable. In some bookstores, the lighting has been failing for several months, prompting the administration to provide staff with headlamps to help them work in the dark. "We cannot work properly like this," Thomas Brun-Bellut lamented. The city has provided some updates: the lift is expected to be replaced in November, and repairs to the toilets are scheduled for the end of September. Additional work on the air conditioning may require budget approval. The headlamps, meanwhile, are being presented as a temporary measure until the lighting is restored. These challenges come shortly after a major modernization project. The Manufacture de Nancy library reopened in the spring of 2024 after two years of renovations, which cost nearly 4 million euros and included 2.4 million euros in state funding. The project aimed to adapt the building to new uses and improve environmental standards. For Sébastien Obrecht, a representative of the staff at SUD, the strike reflects a broader issue within municipal services. He describes the situation as "the submerged part of the iceberg" of a larger problem of resource allocation and the increasing number of precarious jobs. He refers to the trend as the "uberization of contracts," noting that contractual employees could outnumber civil servants within the Nancy city hall by 2025. According to the latest municipal data from 2024, the city employed 1923 people in total, including 1330 civil servants, 125 contractual employees on permanent positions, and 468 contractual employees on non-permanent positions. The strike on September 19 lasted only two hours, a decision influenced by the financial vulnerability of the affected employees. Missing work would have meant a significant loss of income for some. However, the conflict is far from over. The notice period for the strike also includes Sunday, September 27, and the temporary staff plan to continue their efforts if no progress is made on their status or working conditions. At this point, no public date has been set for a new meeting.