A number of French trade unions, such as CGT, CFDT, FO, Unsa and CFTC have called for a nationwide strike and the move has been backed by the Association of Directors of Service for Elderly People (AD-PA), according to media reports.
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A large rally is expected to take place in Paris in front of the French Ministry of Solidarity and Health at 2 p.m. local time (13:00 GMT), while a demonstration in the city of Marseille will start at 10 a.m. local time near the building of the prefecture. The labor unions have assured that the rallies would not disrupt nursing services.
This is not the first instance of the workers from French nursing homes protesting against their working conditions and low salaries. In 2017, hundreds of strikes hit French nursing homes, with a strike in Opalines, a nursing home providing medical care to dependent seniors in the eastern French Jura department, lasting for nearly three months.
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The strike is taking place soon after the end of the nationwide prison guards' strike that lasted for about two weeks in France, after one prisoner attacked several prison guards on January 11. The protesters demanded an improvement in working conditions and higher salaries. The strike has ended after Paris promised to allocate about 30 million euros ($37 million) to improve the situation and threatened to introduce disciplinary action against those involved in the protests.
Solidarity with prison guards on strike in #France (!!) despised, austerized like millions of citizens!! Give them a parliamentary salary and the benefits that go with it: free train, accommodation facilities, good pensions, stipends! #ReLovution!! @nytimes @yokoono pic.twitter.com/rzhJKdHttD
— Voltuan-Redde (@Voltuan) January 26, 2018
