The unions of the Tarn-et-Garonne department met late Tuesday morning in front of the prefecture in Montauban. This mainly concerned the defense of public services.
It is not yet 11 a.m., but a few people, equipped with flags in the colors of different unions, are gathering towards the center of Montauban. The CGT is well represented, but it is not the only union that has gathered its troops on the square of the Tarn-et-Garonne prefecture. SNUipp-FSU 82, CFDT, FO and Unsa are present. Nearly 350 people, according to organizers, and 250 according to police, gathered in front of the prefecture building to defend the public service.
Like Rémi Lagasse, a young teacher in the Valence-d’Agen district. “I am here today to defend national education, but not only that, it is also to defend public services in general and to protest against its privatization,” the young man summarizes. Guillaume Mangenot, departmental co-secretary of the FSU-SNUipp union, which is very close to him, specifies: “The clash of knowledge, the level groups, wanted by the government, are setting educational institutions on fire. On February 1 We have already had a mobilization of teachers that was very well attended. Today we don’t really know yet how many strikers there will be, but one thing is certain: it will not be the only demonstration,” he promises.
Seven leaders from Platanes de Nègrepelisse primary school are also among the strikers. A presence motivated by the insecurity they claim to be victims of. “CDDs are constantly being renewed,” Kamille complains, “and we are all part-time. These circumstances affect our personal lives, we cannot take out a mortgage,” she gives as an example. Before moving on to the lack of recognition for their work and their request for an increase in their salaries, which remained in vain.
Increase the value of the officials’ index point
Among the sectors also heavily mobilized this Tuesday is the Montauban hospital. “The public hospital is a public good, the health crisis has shown how essential it is, but today the hospital is closing beds, sometimes even entire departments,” regrets Christelle Quris, the CGT manager within the Montalbanese establishment. conditions of hospital staff,” she continues, linked, in her view, to budgets that do not meet needs. “The hospital is not a company and patients are not goods,” she sings to a convinced audience.
Other private sector healthcare workers even joined the demonstration. And almost ten employees of the Pont de Chaume clinic came to demonstrate on Tuesday. “Our working conditions continue to deteriorate, they warn. At least four positions have been eliminated in the emergency department, this leads to work overload and, above all, it harms patient safety and the quality of care.” An observation that reflects the situation experienced by the public hospital.
More resources for the various services and an increase in the value of the index point are therefore naturally among the demands of the various associations. In any case, they seem determined to make themselves heard and are already calling for new demonstrations. On March 26, six pensioners’ union organizations called for a march in Montauban for an increase in pensions and 100% reimbursement of healthcare. And the union calendar is likely to be busy in the coming weeks.
High school students from Michelet took action
About twenty young people from the Jules Michelet secondary school in Montauban joined the procession on Tuesday. Julie and Alexandre, in the Terminale and Première classes respectively, even spoke before the meeting. So the group wanted to offer support to their teachers and denounce the “job losses”. And Alexandre clarified: “We want to show that young people are on the move, we want to express our opinions and fight for better education.” “Education should be something that allows us to emancipate ourselves and not something that standardizes us,” adds Julie, who takes the opportunity to denounce the Universal National Service (SNU), which has been supported by all since 2019 young people between 15 and 17 years old can be executed. years old.