The “angry” clerks are calling for a national strike on Monday, July 3, to protest against a proposed salary increase and denounce the “contempt” they say their profession has been subjected to for years. The inter-union expects the movement to be very popular.
The chancellery did not yet have figures at midday, but, according to the first informal feedback, “we are almost 100% strikers in certain jurisdictions”, said Hervé Bonglet, secretary general of UNSA-Services judicial (majority). For the afternoon immediate appearances, particularly busy given the urban riots, “they are having trouble finding replacements to hold the hearings,” he said.
On the steps of the historic Paris Courthouse, on the Ile de la Cité, there were several hundred around 1 p.m., mostly dressed in black robes, singing La Marseillaise and chanting slogans, such as “Greffiers en anger, revise our wages! On their placards are the same words they’ve been brandishing since the start of this movement: “In the Face of Contempt, Anger”, “Injustice in Justice”, “Angry Justice”.
The inter-union received by the chancellery on Tuesday
This mobilization began two weeks ago, spontaneously, outside the unions, caused by a project for a new index grid which will disadvantage the clerks, they believe. They had gathered across France last Monday, including 250 clerks and their supporters mobilized in Lyon; between 150 and 200 before the Paris court; or even a hundred in Marseilles.
The intersyndicale had been received at the Ministry of Justice the same day, without obtaining any result. Believing that no serious discussion regarding their claims had taken place, the UNSA-Judicial Services, the CGT of Chancelleries and Judicial Services, SDGF-FO (Syndicat des Greffiers de France) and the CFDT-Interco Justice regretted in a joint press release a “very insufficient and very laborious” report.
For its part, the Ministry of Justice recalled that the remuneration of clerks has increased by 12% in three years. The intersyndicale has another meeting at the chancellery on Tuesday morning. In a press release, the first presidents of the courts of appeal and the attorneys general said they hoped that the ongoing discussions “will make it possible to find a solution as to the evolution of the status as well as the remuneration” of the clerks, “essential for the proper functioning courts”.