Police unions have declared a nationwide strike from July 14 to August 15, potentially disrupting the progress of the Olympic torch and the running of the Olympic Games themselves.
They are striking to seek a reevaluation of their professional status in the eyes of the government, which is unchanged since 1999, as well as denouncing the conditions of their retirement.
“It is scandalous that some municipal police officers are retiring at the age of 64 with a pension below the poverty line,” the unions said in a signed declaration, who claim that the government is hearing but not listening to them.
The Paris mairie is struggling to recruit police officers for the Olympics, now relying on 2,000 officers rather than the 5,000 originally promised by mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.
45,000 police officers and gendarmes will be deployed on July 26 for the opening ceremony.
It is unclear what the repercussions of this strike will be. Active national police officers are not allowed to go on strike but there is no legislation surrounding the right to strike of local police officers.
More industries may also go on strike during the Olympics, such as the binmen of Paris, hotel workers and security guards, to protest the reform of unemployment benefits.
Workers in these industries “cannot be blamed” for going on strike, said the secretary-general of the Confédération générale du travail (General Confederation of Labour) Sophie Binet.
