Paris, January 22 (RHC)-- French unions pushing for better safety and wages have vowed a “total blockade” of prisons as their dispute with the government worsens. Overnight, France’s Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet said she would meet with union leaders in a push to end the crisis.
“The Minister of Justice wishes to resume dialogue immediately,” the ministry said in a statement, adding it was the responsibility of all sides to ensure that prisons were functioning.
But a Sunday latest attack on guards is likely to harden attitudes among the major French prison unions ahead of the blockade and follows a week of tension and strikes over security and employment concerns.
The male and female guards were attacked in a detention center at Longuenesse prison near Calais at 6:30 p.m., when the cells were still open, according to a prison union official. “This is once again an attack on the staff, we cannot stand it anymore: it’s a daily thing,” said Yannick Lefebvre from Ufap-Unsa union.
On Saturday, the CGT and Ufap-Unsa unions rejected proposals to end the standoff. The third union representing prison guards -- the FO -- has taken a more hardline approach to government talks.
“We are very shocked (by the latest attack). It will only amplify the grumbling and there will be a hardening tomorrow at Longuenesse,” said the FO union's prison inter-regional secretary Julien Martin.
The CGT has said government proposals to end the strike action fall “well short” of their demands, and the Ufap-Unsa, the biggest union representing some 40 percent of prison staff, has backed them.
FO has so far not joined mediation talks and rejected a draft agreement that proposed the creation of 1,100 guard jobs over four years, “including a first tranche of 100 jobs from 2018.”
Currently, the prison service employs 28,000 guards in 188 establishments holding about 78,000 prisoners.
Angered by Attacks on Prison Guards, French Unions Vow ‘Total Blockade’ of Jails
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