Pension reform: two ski lift unions call for strike

Europe 1 with AFP 9:29 p.m., January 23, 2023

The two main unions of ski lift employees, Force Ouvrière (FO) and the CGT, filed a strike notice for January 31 on Monday, to protest against the pension reform project but also the modification of the unemployment insurance scheme. seasonal workers.

Although "unlimited", this strike notice does not mean that the employees of the ski lifts will not return to work at the end of this second national day of mobilization against the pension reform after that of last Thursday, specified to the AFP Eric Becker, FO general secretary for ski lifts and seasonal workers.

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A return to normal the next day 

According to him, the CGT has also filed its own notice but the union could not be reached immediately.

Between them, the unions obtained nearly 100% of the votes in the last elections in the ski lift sector, which employs some 17,000 seasonal workers in France.

"The lifts will operate normally from the next day: we do not want to further weaken companies already in difficulty," he said.

“This unlimited notice” aims, according to him, to respect the legal deadlines to “allow seasonal workers to participate in the next day of mobilization against the pension reform, which should be decided for one day in February”.

The January 31 strike is also for seasonal workers "the only way to be heard by the government, while we have been denouncing the precariousness they are experiencing for months, with the reform of their unemployment insurance system" , explained Mr. Becker.

Retraining or sedentary lifestyle 

"We can no longer recruit, so much has this reform penalized seasonal workers", whose unemployment benefits are sometimes halved, he lamented.

"We are told that we are taking holidaymakers hostage, but it is the seasonal workers who are."

Since December 1, 2021, the minimum working time to recharge the rights to unemployment benefit for seasonal workers is six months over the last 24 months for at least six months of compensation.

Previously, it only took four months out of the last 24 months to top up rights for four months.

According to an impact study by Unédic, this change to 6 months should lead, during the first year of application, to delay the opening of rights to 475,000 people, in particular young people or seasonal workers who multiply contracts. short.

Since its entry into force, many of them have converted or settled down, even though seasonal tourism workers are among the most sought-after professions, according to Pôle emploi.