“For New Year’s Eve, a full meal on a restaurant boat can cost up to 600 euros, we see that it is a very lucrative activity: the employees are just asking for better compensation for the production they generate. “For Matthieu Saintoul, trade unionist of FO Paris, the strike which since December 24 has affected some of the employees of the iconic Batobus and Bateaux Parisiens is a matter of sharing.
The strikers demand in particular wage increases, statutory revaluations and the increase in “long day” bonuses, specifies FO in a press release published Thursday. “Since the end of the Covid, activity has resumed, with record crowds but the same number of employees”, which generates “a very significant work overload”, testified to AFP Romain Joly, striker and captain of a restaurant boat.
“Record profits”
The striking employees are demanding that Sodexo Sports and Leisure, which owns the Bateaux Parisiens and Batobus, “share this year’s record profits”, especially in the inflationary context, added Mr. Joly. According to him, because of the social movement, the Batobus, multiple-stop cruise ships, are no longer sailing, while 25 of the 30 employees are on strike.
Within the Parisian boats, the employees of the Bateaux Restaurant division are mostly on strike (18 out of 19 employees), but the activity is little disturbed, because non-striking staff and executives come in to help maintain this activity, the most lucrative, explained Mr. .Joly. The Promenade Boats (commented cruise) are not following the movement, he said.
Less than 10% strikers according to management
The management of the Bateaux Parisiens indicated for its part that “the movement (affected) currently less than 10% of the workforce and (that) the activity (continued) on the Bateaux Promenade and Restaurant”. Regarding employee compensation, “as part of the mandatory annual negotiations (NAO), an agreement was signed with the majority trade union organizations on December 9 with the shared desire to respond to the problem of inflation for all categories of personnel, without reserving (the) increases to certain categories only”, continued the management. The strikers say they are unhappy with the result of these NAOs, “not accepted by the employees,” said Mr. Joly.