Bonuses, medals, parade ... Caregivers hope for much more

• After two months during which the general public applauded the nursing staff at the windows and the government promised bonuses, the nursing staff began to get impatient.
• The government spokeswoman said on Wednesday that bonuses would be paid by June and that tributes would increase for caregivers.
• But the latter, who refuse to be taken for "heroes", above all hope for a salary increase and a massive investment plan for the public hospital. Two Macron promises that have remained unheeded for the moment.

The announcement was supposed to reassure, it set fire to the powder. While for weeks the government has boasted of preparing bonuses for certain hospital workers at the front against the Covid-19, an article in Les Echos revealed on April 30 that the decrees were still awaited.

Government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye said on RTL's microphone on Wednesday: is in June, depending on the dates of payment of wages. But the announcement did not delight the recipients so much…

Bonuses rather than salary increases

“Emmanuel Macron announced these bonuses on March 25. It is mid-May and we still have nothing, annoys Cathy Le Gac, resuscitation nurse at the Beaujon hospital (Assistance-Publique Hôpitaux de Paris) and co-secretary of the Sud Santé AP-HP union. While the ticket machine continues to operate to turn around private companies like Air France ”.

Receiving 1,500 euros more on the salary slip is good. Except that this is not the claim of health professionals. "We do not run behind the bonuses, we want a salary increase, insists Cathy Le Gac. However, we do not see the beginning of discussion, of an appointment to start working on this site that we have been asking for more than a year and which will take time. "

These nurses, nursing assistants, stretcher bearers, doctors seem scared by the announcement effects. "Me, the Buzyn attractiveness bonus announced in January, I'm still waiting for it," gets angry Yasmina Kettal, nurse and member of the Inter-Emergencies collective. The intersyndicale and the collectives (Inter-Emergencies, Inter-Hospitals, etc.) point out that their requests are legitimate ... and far from being heard. "A month ago, Olivier Véran spoke of a salary increase and now, we are told about a medal," said the nurse at the Saint-Denis hospital center (Seine-Saint-Denis). Obviously, we are not on the same wavelength. "

At 1 p.m. TF1, Thierry Amouroux from the #infirmiers union clearly indicated that the caregivers want a salary increase, and not gift vouchers, donations of #RTT days, or one-off bonuses at the goodwill of local management @infirmierSNPI @ CFECGC pic.twitter.com/kUwJTzvmlE

"The movement started again and the bonus clearly created anger"

Because between a bonus that falls once and for all and a substantial salary increase, there is a world. The challenge today is to attract young people and keep those who have chosen this vocation. However, applications are becoming rare to exercise these trades, exercised after a Bac +3 in increasingly difficult conditions, for a salary that starts at 1,300 euros and which climbs little. More and more paramedics are retraining, going to the private sector or to the province for those who lived in Ile-de-France. "We cannot continue with salaries like this, and even less in this region with exorbitant rents," continues Cathy Le Gac. I met lots of nurses from the provinces helping out in the region. Some of them liked it, but they will never come to Paris to live in 20 m2 for 1,000 euros in rent… ”

For the past few days, anger has been raging in the hospital, again. Several parades of white blouses were held, notably in Toulouse and Nantes, to say no to austerity. "The movement is starting again and the bonus has clearly created anger," continues Cathy Le Gac. Far beyond emergencies. I heard colleagues in my intensive care unit say "This time, we're going to go". Because they put us in an unimaginable situation, we had to cure the fear in the belly, with expired masks, blouses which did not protect well… ”At the risk of their life. At the AP-HP, 5% of caregivers were infected, or nearly 4,700 people as of May 11.

Honors? No thanks

In addition to these bonuses, the government in turn wants to applaud the commitment of caregivers. Thus, the ceremonies of July 14 will honor them. Sibeth Ndiaye also indicated that the promotion of the National Order of Merit and the Legion of Honor on January 1, 2021 will include "a significant proportion of people who have contributed to the fight against the virus at all levels and in all areas of activity ”.

"When I heard the government spokesperson speak of a medal and a parade, I had palpitations!" Exclaims the spokesperson for the Inter-Urgences collective. We didn't do that to be slapped on the back. But because it is our job. I am not a superheroine, I am an employee, a nurse. Who pays their rent with medals? From floor to ceiling in the hospital, there is a need for real recognition, not honorary recognition. "

Some deputies also proposed that employees could donate their holiday vouchers and leave to caregivers. Muriel Pénicaud, the Minister of Labor, would be in favor. "It's charity, it's humiliating, tackle Yasmina Kettal. Especially since people have largely helped us, supported us, we received visors, meals. Now what we want is retribution for our work. Especially since giving us days does not make much sense, we do not yet know how our summer holidays will go, our time savings accounts are overflowing. In my department, the organization of vacations gets stuck because we are always understaffed. "

Back to austerity speeches

The other big question is this commitment made by the President of the Republic during his speech on March 25 in Mulhouse, which promised a massive investment plan for the public hospital. Which we haven't heard so much about since. The Inter-Urgences collective is not really surprised. "It's terrible because we've been told for a year that we have been making massive plans for the hospital, but nothing has changed," corrects Yasmina Kettal. If words are not followed by actions, how can we avoid distrust? "

Find our file

On the contrary, according to the unionists, the hunt for savings and bed closings has already resumed. “What scares us is that we find pre-crisis political speeches: we are not going to give more money to the hospital because we are deepening the debt, warns Cathy Le Gac. Especially since they are in the process of eliminating employee and employer contributions, so inevitably, there will be less money in the Social Security funds, which pay the hospitals. "And Yasmina Kettal suggests, mischievously:" perhaps this health crisis could have shown that just-in-time operation, with beds 100% occupied, is not optimal ... "

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