The unions expect a million people to take to the streets this Thursday to demonstrate against the pension reform presented by the Government. Therefore, to participate in the many processions, French employees, public or private, will have to go on strike. But how to exercise this right?
• What is a strike in the sense of the law?
It is a collective and concerted cessation of work aimed at supporting professional claims. It must necessarily be manifested by a total stoppage of work.
You do not need to be a union member or worker representative to go on strike.
Remember that the strike is a fundamental right, enshrined in the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, with the exception of certain professions such as the military who do not have the right to exercise it.
Thus, “no worker may be penalized, fired or subject to a discriminatory measure for the normal exercise of the right to strike,” the article states. L1132-2 of the Labor Code.
• How to exercise your right to strike if you are a private employee
You are not required to give notice or even notify your employer of your absence.
“In practice, the employer asks the worker the days following the strike what were the reasons for his absence, and the worker then indicates that he was on strike,” explains the CGT, for example.
In practice, for the good organization of the company, it is acceptable to inform your address or manager by mail the day before or the morning of the strike before your start of service.
The only legal obligation is that the employer is informed of the demands that motivate this work stoppage. As it is a general and national strike, it is not necessary that you personally send him his demands.
You have every right to strike for just half a day (and even a few hours) to demonstrate. Or even stay at home without going to demonstrate. You do not have to provide proof, but if you decide to go on strike at your workplace, it is prohibited to prevent your non-striking co-workers from working.
• What is not allowed
Any movement that results in a voluntary slowdown of production or the pace of work (go-slow strike) or in carrying out work in an exaggeratedly conscientious manner so that the department in question is paralyzed (to work to rule) is not legal . Strike.
• What consequences on salary?
Logically, the employer will make a deduction from the salary corresponding to the duration of the absence. Given the context, however, you can do it, in an HR management logic.
In addition, the strike suspends the employment contract. If during a demonstration you have a bad fall, this cannot be considered as a work accident.
To avoid a deduction from salary, it is always possible for the employee to present, before the day of mobilization, an RTT or a day of paid leave. The employee will not be considered as a striker, he will be on leave of absence. Consequently, the legal regime of the strike will not be applicable, but rather the one corresponding to the reason for the absence (days of paid leave or RTT). He will be paid accordingly.
• How to exercise your right to strike if you are a public employee
This time, a notice must be submitted by one or more representative union organizations, at least five calendar days before the start of the strike.
This notice must specify the demands, the place, the date and the expected duration of the strike. During this five-day period, the management and the union organizations are obliged to negotiate.
This obligation also concerns the employees of companies that delegate public services (such as garbage collection, water treatment, etc.).
In the education sector, those who work in kindergarten and primary school have one more restriction: notice can only be given after negotiations between the state and the unions.
• Exceptions
If you exercise a profession subject to restrictions or to a minimum service (primary level teachers, public transport or hospital agents, nursery staff, etc.), it is necessary to declare a strike at least 48 hours in advance. .
If the number of non-striking employees is insufficient to provide a minimum service, management may assign staff, for example, to monitor care at a hospital.
• What consequences on salary?
The deduction will be 1/30 of the monthly salary, even if the duration of the strike is less than one day, in the public function of the State.
In the territorial and hospital public service, it will be proportional to the duration of the strike (ie, 1/60 of a day for half a day of absence).
Source: BFM TV
