The unions and the management of EDF announced, Friday, October 21, to have reached a salary agreement at the national level, several weeks after the start of mobilizations in the nuclear fleet.
At this announcement, the employees of the Gravelines nuclear power plant (North), the most powerful in Western Europe, voted on Friday to suspend their strike movement until Monday, believing that management had responded to the demands , said Franck Redondo, FO secretary of the CSE of the plant.
General increase and individual advancements
EDF management has proposed a 5% increase for low salaries up to supervisors, he said. Management was offered a 2.5% increase, accompanied by bonuses, the amount of which remains to be finalized. These general increases will be accompanied by individual advancements of 2.45%, according to the same source.
“This agreement tends to respond strongly to the demands that were those of the CGT” by approaching an increase for all of 120 € gross per month, underlined for his part Julien Lambert, federal secretary of the FNME-CGT.
Upcoming vote
This agreement, which comes on the second day of national wage negotiations, must still be ratified by the trade unions and be submitted for consultation with the personnel of each site. In Gravelines, a new vote must decide Monday on the end of the strike if this agreement is ratified by then.
“If the agreement is confirmed on Monday, for us, the file is closed, everyone gets back to work and we wet our shirts to connect the power stations to the network for the French, in complete safety”I indicated Franck Redondo.
In Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux (Loir-et-Cher), the CGT suspended the movement pending the opinion of members. At the Moselle power station of Cattenom, “the movement continues for the moment, the employees want to maintain a certain pressure as long as the agreement is not signed”according to a union source.
Tensions on the network
Started on September 13, the strike movement spread over the weeks, until it affected Friday morning 12 power plants out of the 18 in the French nuclear fleet. A strike notice is announced in Flamanville (Seine-Maritime) for 9:00 p.m., according to the communication department of the plant.
The strike is causing delays in the schedule of works and maintenance in the nuclear fleet, raising fears of tensions on the electricity network in the heart of winter.