Paris heating workers strike over salaries and conditions

On Friday, October 23, shortly before 8 a.m., an employee of the city of Paris placed madeleines and brioches on a small table in the sixth floor of a workshop near the Montparnasse Tower. A group of about sixty employees from the service of climate engineering, i.e., heating, were waiting for the arrival of their management. They have been on strike since October 15 for their salary.

Management dismisses key demands

According to Benjamin Gluckstein, general secretary of the CGT union for the services of health, social, cultural, administrative, architectural, and technical services of the city of Paris, the management stated that the technicality bonus, one of the demands, would not be increased. This monthly bonus of 105 euros has not been increased for 27 years. Other demands pushed by three CGT unions are also largely salary-related, such as the revaluation of duties, but also material.

Discrepancy between public and private stance

Emmanuel Grégoire, the mayor of Paris, is aware of the strike movement, the management confirmed it again, said Benjamin Gluckstein. We denounce a real contradiction. On the one hand, Emmanuel Grégoire criticizes the government for not responding to the demands of high school students, and he is entirely right to say so. But it is necessary to clean up in front of one's door and not apply the same methods to one's staff.

Strikes risk disrupting heating season

This strike, which is currently little publicized, is however followed by almost all the heating technicians of the capital, about a hundred, who probably pay for a lack of public awareness of their profession, as well as a socially charged current national situation. Without notable progress on their demands, Parisians could soon discover the importance of this profession. Because this time of year is crucial: with the return of cold, it is now that the 1,200 heating centers of the city's public buildings must be turned on. However, the strike could well disrupt and delay the operations.

Workers prepare for a difficult winter

Samy Bouhaka, a senior heating engineer and staff representative at the CGT, conceded that they will turn on whatever happens, because it is their job and they have a duty of obedience. But these two weeks of turning on are their only window to present demands. The effects of this slowdown are already being felt. The director of a school in the 19th arrondissement of Paris has written an email to the city of Paris services to complain about the absence of heating in her school and her official residence.

Strikers seek recognition and better conditions

After the meeting with management, which satisfied no one, the strikers gathered again in the small service room. The union delegates expressed their feelings. It was decided to follow the management team, which would visit a nursery in the 14th arrondissement with a representative of the city of Paris whom they considered it worthwhile to go and confront. Direction to the nursery on the Pernety street around 10:30 a.m., by public transport. "This is my first strike," whispered Frédéric, a master worker of 50 years.

Long-term decline in workforce and expertise

Among the other strikers, Jean-Marc is well placed to judge the deterioration of his working conditions, having arrived in 1995. A heating technician for the city of Paris, his daily life is made of fixing leaks, modifying radiators, changing ventilation filters, and adjusting burners in the boiler room. Outside of the heating period, his work is dedicated for the rest of the year to the repair and maintenance of the infrastructure of public buildings, from schools to swimming pools, passing through the official residences of some city officials. "We used to be more numerous," he confided. In the workshop where we were this morning, there were about 100 people. Now, there is a hundred in total on the three sites of the city." The man recalls a strike in 2001. "The strike lasted two and a half days," continued Jean-Marc. At that time, we blocked the management with all the cars and the CRS had to remove us."

Workload and privatization concerns

Djimé, a senior heating technician, has been in the heating service for 37 years. "The staff work in pairs on a sector of 20 to 40 boiler rooms, whose power ranges from 40 kilowatts for a nursery to two megawatts. There are six sectors per workshop and three workshops," he described. I did wiring of panels and complete electrical installations in the boiler rooms. Now this is no longer the case, it has gone to the private sector," he lamented. Calmly, the small group waits for the members of the management to exit in front of the nursery, under the rain. When the doors open, the heating technicians approach Marie Daudé, a senior official and general secretary of the city of Paris, to have her relay their mobilization to the mayor and his deputies. Interrogated by Basta!, she refused to comment.

Private sector involvement raises concerns

After a brief exchange as cold as the rain, the two parties leave the premises. For the heating technicians, it is necessary to determine the future of the movement. "We have the information that they have asked to call on the private sector and that a company will provide 27 technicians starting Monday morning," revealed Benjamin Gluckstein, of the CGT. This will pose problems because these are technicians who do not know the installations. They will arrive, turn on the heating, but if there is a problem, the private sector will not be there to help. It will cost them very dear," warned the staff representative. A way for management to "break the strike," according to the unionists, as they wrote in a letter sent notably to the mayor of Paris on October 23.

Ongoing risks and uncertain future

For some, the day continues at the North workshop, in the 19th arrondissement, on the rue de Cambrai. In this neighborhood, several employees have been victims of attacks in recent months. "It is a reality that some do not want to hear, not recognizing the risks we take all day," lamented Samy Bouhaka, staff representative at the CGT. But our movement is clearly for purchasing power. An electrician is very sought after in the Paris region and will not come to us with our current salaries, especially since a part of us lives in Paris where the cost of living has exploded."

No progress as the heating season begins

Monday, October 26, the situation remained frozen. Private sector employees would have turned on the heating in nurseries in the morning. "Apparently, they have chosen the strategy of rotting and it is very unfortunate," criticized Benjamin Gluckstein. On the other hand, the city of Paris responded to our requests in writing. It "wants to recall that the employees of the energy service of the direction of public construction and architecture benefit, like other municipal employees, from regular revaluations of their compensation package" and "proposes to focus the discussions on the revaluation of the performance contract, with a first negotiation meeting set for November 9 with all the trade union organizations." Until then, there is no doubt that the money will be lacking for the strikers, who demand more purchasing power, not brioche.