At the announcement of the agreement, the employees of the Gravelines nuclear power plant (North), the most powerful in Western Europe, voted the suspension of their movement until Monday.
Le Monde with AFP
It’s done. A salary agreement at the national level was found on Friday October 21 in EDF, between management and several unions, after several weeks of mobilization in the nuclear park, learned the France-Presse (AFP) agency from the General Labor Confederation (CGT) and of Force Ouvrière (FO).
this announcement, the employees of the Gravelines nuclear power plant (North), the most powerful in Western Europe, voted on Friday the suspension of their strike movement until Monday, believing that management had Responded to claims, told AFP Franck Redondo, FO secretary of the Central Social and Economic Council.
EDF management has offered 5 % increase for low wages to master’s agents, he said. The supervision was offered 2.5 % increase accompanied by premiums, 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 claims that were those of the CGT”, approaching an increase for all of 120 euros gross per month, underlined Julien Lambert, federal secretary of the FNME-CGT.
“Maintain a pressure”
This agreement, which takes place on the second day of national salary negotiations, must still be ratified by union organizations and be subject to the consultation of the staff of each site. In Gravelines, a new vote must decide on Monday from the strike, if this agreement is well ratified by then. “If the agreement is confirmed on Monday, for us the file is closed, everyone gets back to work and we wet the shirt to connect the power plants to the French network, safely,” said Redondo.
In Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux (Loir-et-Cher), the CGT suspended the movement while waiting for the advice of the members. At the Mosellane power station in Cattenom, “the movement continues for the moment, employees want to maintain some pressure until the agreement is signed”, according to a union source.
Begun on September 13, the strike movement spread over the weeks, until touching twelve power plants on the eighteen of the French nuclear park on Friday morning. A strike notice is announced in Flamanville (Seine-Maritime) for 9 p.m., according to the central communication service.
The strike leads to delays on the work and maintenance calendar in the nuclear fleet, raising fears of tensions on the electricity network in the heart of winter. Friday, throughout the country, four reactors experienced a drop in production while maintenance work was blocked on eighteen reactors, France counting fifty-six in total, Julien Lambert told AFP.