The electricity and gas industries branch forms a united front against “the decline in the purchasing power of staff”. The four representative trade union federations (CGT, CFE-CGC, CFDT, FO) are thus calling for a day of mobilization, Thursday June 2, with a strike notice until Monday 13. Their main demand: to obtain an increase in their national salary (SNB) by at least 4.5% in 2022 to offset the effects of the general rise in prices – and no longer by just 0.3%, as had been set by employers since the start of the year.
The employers refuse to reopen negotiations now. “They continue to ‘play the clock’, using calendar pretexts, the expectation of confirmation of inflation figures, possible government measures and legislative elections. [des 12 et 19 juin] », deplores an inter-union press release of May 18. The two representatives of employers did not wish to express themselves in detail, and did not communicate to the Monde the median level of wages in the branch. The French Electricity Union and the National Union of Gas Industry Employers simply indicate their willingness to wait until at least the end of June to begin to deal with the question of a possible revaluation.
The basic national salary concerns the vast majority of the approximately 135,000 employees in the sector, apart from the top managers. It is not a minimum wage, but an index point allowing the various levels of remuneration to be determined in relation to seniority levels – excluding bonuses or individual increases.
Structural problem
Even though employees have statutory preferential rates for gas and electricity, they too pay a high price for soaring bills for fuel, foodstuffs and other consumer goods. All the more so since the start of the war in Ukraine on February 24. In May, with inflation estimated at 5.2% over one year by INSEE, the national price index recorded an unprecedented increase in France since September 1985.
According to the union summary, for a decade the national basic wage has been moving below the consumer price index
For Alain André, Federal Secretary FO Energy and Mines, “the economic situation creates demand”. “Already the 0.3% increase did not satisfy us, it satisfies us even less in the very specific context of current inflation. » The unions also and above all underline a structural problem: for a decade, according to their summary, the basic national salary has been evolving below the consumer price index.
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