Two days after dozens of hospital personnel met in Paris and Marseille against the obligation to vaccinate to which caregivers will be subject, the workers of the AP-HP – hospitals in the capital and its region – will be on strike this Thursday 12 August at the convocation of the Force Ouvrière (FO) union.
If the personnel of health facilities or those who work with fragile people have until October 15 to present a complete vaccination schedule, and until September 15 for the first dose, in fact, several actors in the sector remain hostile to measure.
“Everyone should have the freedom not to be vaccinated,” Vincent Martin, deputy general secretary of the Force Ouvrière (FO) union, told the France-Presse (AFP) agency on Tuesday in front of the headquarters of the Public Assistance – Paris Hospitals ( AP-HP) before a meeting of the central committee on health, safety and working conditions (CHSCT).
Vincent Martin also denounced the pressure exerted by executives on staff to get vaccinated.
“Maybe I would lose my place on September 15th. But the vaccine, I’m afraid ”, summarized for his part Yael Dos Santos, a nursing assistant for thirty years in Pitié-Salpêtrière and FO activist. In his profession, distrust remains especially great.
According to figures reported by the AP-HP, 49% of nursing assistants are also vaccinated, compared to 94% of doctors.
But while the calls to strike multiply among those in white coats – another demonstration is also planned for this Thursday in Lille, this time at the request of the CGT – the government remains firm.
Last week, during a trip to Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, also made very prominent comments on this subject.
“I saw that there were one or two unions that had called a strike (…) there comes a time when these people will no longer have time to strike, since, by definition, this vaccine obligation will apply,” he said.
The minister’s departure had earned him an immediate rethinking of Yves Veyrier. In a press release, the General Secretary of Force Ouvrière had “recalled that the right to strike is a constitutional right linked to freedom of association and democracy.”
