Pass compulsory for nearly 2 million employees in contact with the public – Orange news

AFP, published on Monday, August 30, 2021 at 7:48 p.m.

Mandatory since this summer for customers, the health pass is now required for 1.8 million employees in restaurants, cinemas, museums or mainline trains, without penalizing economic activity according to the government, which announced the next move to “tailor-made” aid to businesses and the end of “whatever the cost”.

From Monday until November 15, employers will have to check the validity of the passes of their staff in contact with the public. The pass is validated by a complete vaccination schedule, a negative test dating back less than 72 hours or a certificate of recovery from Covid-19.

Monday, employees interviewed by AFP were understanding, fatalistic or frankly reluctant.

In front of a pharmacy in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon, many unvaccinated employees are being tested. It is “binding to come every three days but otherwise I cannot go to work”, testifies Noé Rohnat, 22, a service provider in a concierge.

In a large Parisian brasserie opposite the Accor Hotel Arena, a waiter who prefers to remain anonymous does not take offense: “There is no more freedom, we are in a dictatorship”.

Rouqia Mili works in a brasserie in the Opera district of Paris. She was reluctant to be vaccinated “but when I saw that we were going to suspend our pay, I no longer hesitated, we do not touch my salary”, she laughs.

“I find it normal that the pass is also applied to staff since we ask customers for it,” said Sarah Hadj-Hacène, director of the CGR Bordeaux Le Français cinema.

Government spokesman Gabriel Attal promised “a week of flexibility” before possible “sanctions” which could go as far as administrative closure.

– 5,000 employees concerned at SNCF –

Employees without this key will be able to take time off, telework, be assigned to a position that does not require a pass or be suspended without pay.

According to the Directorate General of Health, more than 48 million French people have received at least one dose (71.8% of the total population) and more than 43.5 million benefit from a complete vaccination schedule.

SNCF estimates that “70% of employees affected by the health pass are vaccinated” and guarantees that “100% of the transport plan” will be provided in the coming weeks.

The obligation concerns the controllers and security officers of TGV, Intercity and international trains but also subcontractors of cleaning or catering on board, or “more than 5,000 employees”, according to the railway group.

– Emergency fund extended by one month –

Not all unions are of the same opinion on this new obligation. If the CFDT had approved the text this summer, FO denounced the possible suspension of employment contracts as a “heavy sanction”.

Asked about France Inter on Monday, the secretary general of the CGT Philippe Martinez reiterated the central’s opposition to the health pass and compulsory vaccination, even if it is for vaccination. If he approves of those who march against the past, he does not want the CGT to demonstrate with “those who are against vaccination, who carry fake news, who have anti-Semitic signs”.

“Is there a sanitary logic to make compulsory the sanitary pass at the SNCF, but not at the RATP?”, Asked for its part the CFTC Paris.

The establishment of the health pass in places open to the public at the beginning of August “had no impact on the economic activity of the country”, assured the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, who met in Bercy several ministers and employer representatives from sectors (commerce, hotels, tourism, events, etc.) which are still suffering from the health crisis. A separate meeting was organized in the afternoon for the world of culture with her counterpart Roselyne Bachelot.

Faced with the concerns of professionals, the government will extend the solidarity fund by one month before moving from October 1 to “tailor-made”.

After the announcement of the measures, Didier Chenet, president of the National Group of Independents (GNI, hotels, restaurants and nightclubs) said he was “satisfied”. The representatives of culture were more cautious in the face of the proposal to cover fixed costs, like Aurélie Hannedouche from the current music union, for whom “we are powerless in culture to assess whether it is fine correspond to our needs “.

“We have had a lot of good news on the employment front in recent weeks, with historic hiring levels, with a drop in the number of job seekers by 270,000 in three months. We have regained the level of unemployment that we had before the crisis, “said Minister of Labor Élisabeth Borne. She also announced that the ministry would no longer recommend a minimum number of days of teleworking to companies which will be entirely in the maneuver within the framework of agreements with the unions.