Why are French firefighters setting up camp in a Paris square?
If you head to one Paris square this week you will see an unusual site - an encampment of French firefighters complete with beds, canteen and a blood donor centre.
The week-long camp, beginning on December 2nd, is an industrial action with a difference from French firefighters protesting about their pay, pensions and conditions.
Firefighters, like emergency medics and certain types of police officer, are banned from striking, so instead members of the Sud-SDIS union have hit upon the idea of a week-long occupation of the Place de la République in Paris to register their anger about proposed reforms to the pension system that have sparked mass walk-outs across France, beginning on December 5th.
READ ALSO 'Unlimited' strikes in France in December: What you need to know
"We hope to have between 200 and 300 firefighters a day, not to mention the support of the population," Rémy Chabbouh, the general secretary of the South, told French newspaper Le Parisian.
One of his colleagues added that they were "fed up with marches that often end in a mess and tear gas" and so had decided to try something new.
A march in October in Paris by firefighters calling for better pay and conditions descended into violent clashes with police.
The unions hope to have several hundred firefighters in the square at any one time.
??Venez nombreux nous rejoindre sur le village des soldats du feu à partir de 14h place de la république à Paris. ??
https://t.co/92WhBVqq2p
— Sud Sdis National (@SudSdisNational) November 15, 2019
The Sud-SDIS, whose members come mainly from large cities such as Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes, Nîmes or Arras, is not the biggest firefighters' union and does not represent firefighters from Paris or Marseille, who come under a different regime and are part of the military.
Unions hope to capitalise on public support by inviting members of the public to go and join their 'firefighters village' which will be in the Place de la République in central Paris from December 2nd to December 6th.
READ ALSO Why are French firefighters protesting in the streets?
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The week-long camp, beginning on December 2nd, is an industrial action with a difference from French firefighters protesting about their pay, pensions and conditions.
Firefighters, like emergency medics and certain types of police officer, are banned from striking, so instead members of the Sud-SDIS union have hit upon the idea of a week-long occupation of the Place de la République in Paris to register their anger about proposed reforms to the pension system that have sparked mass walk-outs across France, beginning on December 5th.
READ ALSO 'Unlimited' strikes in France in December: What you need to know
"We hope to have between 200 and 300 firefighters a day, not to mention the support of the population," Rémy Chabbouh, the general secretary of the South, told French newspaper Le Parisian.
One of his colleagues added that they were "fed up with marches that often end in a mess and tear gas" and so had decided to try something new.
A march in October in Paris by firefighters calling for better pay and conditions descended into violent clashes with police.
The unions hope to have several hundred firefighters in the square at any one time.
??Venez nombreux nous rejoindre sur le village des soldats du feu à partir de 14h place de la république à Paris. ??
— Sud Sdis National (@SudSdisNational) November 15, 2019
https://t.co/92WhBVqq2p
The Sud-SDIS, whose members come mainly from large cities such as Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes, Nîmes or Arras, is not the biggest firefighters' union and does not represent firefighters from Paris or Marseille, who come under a different regime and are part of the military.
Unions hope to capitalise on public support by inviting members of the public to go and join their 'firefighters village' which will be in the Place de la République in central Paris from December 2nd to December 6th.
READ ALSO Why are French firefighters protesting in the streets?
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