- Title: Health workers march in Paris for better working conditions, higher pay
- Date: 30th June 2020
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JUNE 30, 2020) (REUTERS) HEALTH WORKERS HOLDING BANNER, MARCHING, CHANTING AT PROTEST PROTESTER BLOWING WHISTLE, GESTURING PEACE SIGN IV BAG ON PROTEST SIGN / PROTESTER HOLDING SIGN READING (French): "LESS BONUSES, MORE PAY" PROTESTERS MARCHING NURSE FROM VAL DE MARNE DEPARTMENT, MELISSA DESCOTES, AT PROTEST (SOUNDBITE) (French) 35-YEAR-OLD NURSE FROM VAL DE MARNE DEPARTMENT, MELISSA DESCOTES, SAYING: "I'm here today because I want to live decently with my salary. I want to be able to take my kids on holiday, I want to be able to buy them things. And today, with my salary, I can't live right. If my husband weren't doing enough to back me up, I will not be able to live right with my salary. In my household, we're all nurses, from mothers to daughters for three generations. Today, I have a three-year-old daughter, and I won't be against her taking up another job, not because this isn't the best job in the world, but because she won't live right with it." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING
- Embargoed: 14th July 2020 16:50
- Keywords: CFDT Force Ouvriere France coronavirus health workers march protest unions
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001CKKBWAV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of health workers marched in Paris on Tuesday (June 30) to protest poor working conditions and low wages, renewing a call on the government to provide sufficient financing to hospitals nationwide.
Despite being praised with daily applause by people on their balconies during the height of the outbreak, health workers said they should instead be rewarded for their work with higher salaries and more funding for equipment and personnel.
Health workers have last year started strikes and protests against the government, but the movement was put on hold during the new coronavirus crisis.
They returned to the streets in June, sparking clashes with police, after France lifted its two-month lockdown in mid-May.
Protester Melissa Descotes comes from three generations of nurses, but she said she would not advise her daughter to inherit her profession.
"I won't be against her taking up another job, not because this isn't the best job in the world, but because she won't live right with it," she said.
In recognition of their contribution during the outbreak, the government paid healthcare workers a 1,500 euro bonus. French Health Minister Olivier Veran has also proposed the allotment of 6 billion euros to increase salaries for health workers.
But Force Ouvriere union leader Yves Veyrier said the proposals were not enough and could only be the "starting point" of a "complete package" of measures to quell protesters' complaints.
(Production: Clotaire Achi, Noemie Olive, Melodie Sforza, Emilie Delwarde, Ardee Napolitano) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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