Mobilized but all in office… Can the CHU caregivers really go on strike?

The ambulances parade like any day of the week. In front of the emergency entrance of the Nantes University Hospital, only the few union flags and a poster on the door can give a clue as to what is happening there. If the care activity seems to be proceeding normally on Monday, the nursing staff has nevertheless voted for an indefinite strike since midnight Sunday, to denounce the working conditions. Not very visible, the movement would however be very followed, according to the unions. “There are 100% strikers, even calculates Thierry Creis, nurse and secretary of the South CHU union, who recalls that the last strike dates back to 2019. The staff is so exhausted that everyone followed. But all received a summons, which explains their presence at their post today. »

Because compared to the movement of refiners in recent weeks, the strike in the hospital public service is much more discreet. And this first of all because of the assignments, which the management of a hospital has the right to decide to ensure the permanence of care. “Caregivers at the public hospital must give five days’ notice to go on strike, which allows management to know in advance the staff they will need, explains Stéphane Naulleau, general secretary of the Force union. worker at the university hospital and also a nurse. The problem is that in the Nantes emergency room, between the absenteeism rate and the lack of staff, we are already at minimum service, so today assigned to 100%. This is abuse, a form of non-respect of the right to strike. In other more extreme cases, a requisition may be requested by the prefect.

“Show displeasure”

In the emergency corridors of the Nantes University Hospital, some caregivers (who can go on strike for an hour or a day) have affixed a sticker “On strike” on their blouses, and a banner was to be deployed in front of the premises. Because “the objective is to alert our fellow citizens but also the other services, so that a balance of power can be established with the management”, continues Stéphane Naulleau. “We can then consider slightly stronger actions, such as demonstrations or sit-ins”, adds Thierry Creis, who admits that “the summons does not help mobilization” but assures that “reporting oneself as a striker is already very important to show his displeasure”. All assigned strikers receive their full salary.

Caregivers, who must also deal with their ethics, hope that the management will open negotiations on “the human and material resources essential to improve patient care”.

The management of the Nantes University Hospital has not yet responded to requests from 20 minutes.