- At the call of their three federations, worried about the workers working during the Covid-19 epidemic, construction and public works companies closed and the workers stayed at home.
- Despite the government injunction continued their activity, more than 80% of public works sites are stopped.
- A memorandum of understanding is said to be being drawn up while workers in the field, working without masks or gloves, say they are worried.
“It's complicated to telecommute with your jackhammer. If Richard, 46, continues to work smiling, this Thursday, on his construction site in Bordeaux, many of the two million workers in construction and public works have stayed at home. At the call of their three federations (Capeb, the National Federation of Public Works and the French Building Federation), worried to see workers working during the Covid-19 epidemic, companies closed and "the guys are stayed at home ”.
Regardless of Emmanuel Macron's speech urging companies and employees to continue their activity so that the economy does not stop, nearly 90% of construction sites are thus stopped in France, according to the FNTP (8,000 companies and 300,000 employees). “No one wants to put their employees in danger, or take legal or financial risks, explains Julien Guez, director general of the federation. We had asked to suspend the activity of companies to be able to enforce barrier gestures, to meet health standards. We have finally been heard and the best thing is to put an end to this mess, to quickly restore confidence with the employees. "
"Defeatism" and lack of "good citizenship"
Since last Monday, the date on which a strict confinement of the French was announced at their home, the tone had actually hardened between the building, which considers it untenable to continue its construction, and the government, which sees it as an essential activity for the 'economy. The conflict reached its climax Thursday, when the Minister of Labor, Muriel Pénicaud, accused one of the three federations of the sector, the Capeb, of "defeatism" and lack of "civility" for having, according to her, called its members to a total stop.
This Friday, calm returned and each party is now working on a "protocol" that would frame the conditions for a resumption of construction. The objective? Formalize, according to the FNTP, a guide for the use of employees which should be validated by the Ministries of Health and Labor, the taking into account by the State of partial unemployment and the securing of contracts to prevent companies and their customers postpone the decision to stop a site. An agreement with the government sets the goal of achieving this before Tuesday evening. "It is a deadline for us to activate, but it does not imply a resumption of activities ipso facto , it will be necessary that this protocol be concretized on the ground", comments Julien Guez.
"It's not for nothing if the guys aren't going to work"
And this in particular to reassure Pierre Gauthier, 28, geotechnical engineer in Haute-Savoie. In the midst of the Covid-19 epidemic, he joined work sites in Megève or Saint-Gervais daily: “We say that alone in a field, there is no problem. And then the number of cases of coronavirus increases and we freak out a little. We wonder every day if we are not going to come across the wrong person. Or Richard, who continues to perfect the streets of the right bank in Bordeaux, where the tram site is stopped, according to Direccte: "There are four of us here working without a mask, without gloves. To do without equipment. I come by tram, which is sometimes very full, it's scary. I have two children and my mother at home. "
“The guys will lose up to 500 euros in salary per month, even half for the temporary workers. So if they're not going to work, it's not for nothing, ”says Laurent Grosjean, secretary of the CGT 31 construction union. The ultra-majority union represents "more than 40% of the 40,000 employees in the sector" in the Toulouse conurbation where, according to him, all construction sites are closed. "It is out of the question to resume work in its conditions", continues the trade unionist, who ensures that "as of Monday, the phone calls from worried workers have continued to rain. We are told that we can work individually in our sector, it is poorly aware of the reality of our profession. "
"I do how to continue a site without supplies"
"Difficult to comply with sanitary conditions when the gel ordered has not arrived, when you have to carry bags of cement or heavy equipment," says Clément Leroux, from the Bordeaux company Etsia. And even if we have made stocks, 80% of our suppliers are stationary. How do I make my quotes if the company that provides me with the windows does not give me its figures? How to continue a site without supplies? "
For his part, Bruno de Massia, the president of the small company with 23 employees, ensures that only two workers are missing, who have stayed to look after their children. All inquired, expressed fears, but preferred to continue working. Etsia will not have closed its doors, its president refusing to take this risk, without a decree covering this decision or ensuring the right to partial unemployment.
This Friday, the Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, promised that the companies in the construction industry stopped would be entitled to it. He also acknowledged that it was not obvious "to protect employees on a construction site" and that those who "would be too dangerous from the health point of view" would be closed. "We are finally in a constructive approach with the government, reports Julien Guez. The Capeb, the building federation and the FNTP join forces. We all make the same speeches. It is quite rare to see it, and that is to say how much we could no longer stay in the dark, endangering millions of guys on construction sites. "
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