200 days before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the police officers mobilized during the competition are expressing their concern and demanding clear answers.
Nearly 300 police officers demonstrated in Paris on Wednesday aboard tourist buses to urge authorities to speed up negotiations on working conditions and salaries during the 2024 Olympic Games to be held in the French capital.
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced the deployment of nearly 45,000 police officers and gendarmes during the event, and warned that the agents will be able to take ten days of vacation, or two weeks, between June 15 and 15 September because 100% attendance will be required during the Games period. Police unions believe that the French government is asking too much of them without fair compensation in return.
“They’re asking officers across the country to work hard between May and September, but they’re going to have to rest at some point. But if we can’t get a break between January and May and then between September and December, that’s fine. be a problem” explains Grégory Joron, general secretary of the SGP police-FO Unit union.
Gérald Darmanin recognized that the police would have practically no time off before the event. But he assured that this commitment will be rewarded by “substantial financial support”.
The police are also asking for a bonus of 1,500 euros for everyone because “exceptional work, exceptional bonus”. Gérald Darmanin has promised bonuses which could range from 500 euros to 1,500 euros “if the commitment is particularly exceptional”.
The Paris Olympic Games are scheduled to be held from July 26 to August 11. A period during which many sectors will experience increased pressure in the Paris region, with a context of security threats and chronic shortages of personnel in the police, hospitals and public transport.
Other police unions, including Alliance and Unsa-police, have called for a “black day” on January 18.