During January and February 2004, industrial action by Radio France journalists disrupted programmes at the public broadcaster’s various stations for several weeks. Management and trade unions were finally able to reach a wage agreement.
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During January and February 2004, industrial action by Radio France journalists disrupted programmes at the public broadcaster’s various stations for several weeks. Management and trade unions were finally able to reach a wage agreement.
The Radio France group was created when the former French Television and Radio Broadcasting Board (Office de la radiodiffusion et de la télévision française, ORTF) was broken up into seven state-owned companies. It is made up of: six national radio stations (France Inter, France Info, France Musiques, France Culture, Le Mouv', and FIP); a nationwide network of regional stations (the France Bleu network); two programme libraries (Hector and Sophia); two philharmonic orchestras (Orchestre national de France and Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France); as well as the Radio France choir (Choeur de Radio France) and Radio France Children’s Choir (maîtrise de Radio France).
On 27 January 2004, Radio France journalists went on strike to demand the alignment of their wages with those of their counterparts at the state-owned public television group, France Télévisions. The strike was organised by a coalition of journalists' trade unions - including those affiliated to the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT), the General Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff-French Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff (Confédération française de l'encadrement-Confédération générale des cadres, CFE-CGC), French Christian Workers’ Confederation (Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens, CFTC), General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT) and General Confederation of Labour-Force Ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail - Force Ouvrière, CGT-FO), and the National Union of Journalists (Syndicat nationale des journalistes, SNJ) - which also conducted negotiations with management.
On 4 February, Radio France management stated in a press release that:
the wage disparity between journalists at Radio France and in public television could not be the basis for a review of pay at Radio France; and
it would be impossible to include a general across-the-board pay rise in the group's 2004 budget.
Management left the door open for talks on wage policy for 2005-7. However, in a statement to Agence France-Presse, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, the Minister of Culture and Communication, whose ministry is responsible for Radio France, ruled out this option, on the grounds that no commitments on the future of Radio France could be made at this juncture. As a result, an initial meeting between management and the multi-union coalition on 5 February was cut short, with the coalition calling on the Prime Minister to intervene.
Throughout the industrial action, management and the multi-union coalition published their own very different strike turn-out figures. Of all the parts of Radio France, the non-stop news station, France Info, was hardest hit. The strikers received support from many high-profile figures from the world of science, the arts and literature.
The strike ended on the evening of 13 February 2004 after a workforce general assembly endorsed a deal struck by the multi-union coalition and management. The deal provides for the creation of a Radio France-wide additional pay scheme, initially covering only journalists. This is to be developed through collective bargaining, which is to get underway soon. The scheme is to be incorporated into the current collective agreement and will not amend any of the existing wage mechanisms. It is to be put in place in 2004, and will apply only from 2005 and beyond. A payment of EUR 400 (gross) is to be made to all staff in March 2004 as an advance on the wage rise to be negotiated for 2005.
Journalists at the other major state-run radio corporation, Radio France Internationale (RFI), followed the example of their Radio France counterparts by organising industrial action starting on 11 February. Their strike ended on 18 February 2004 with the signature of a draft agreement between the RFI multi-union coalition (involving CFDT, CGT and SNJ) and management. According to the RFI chair, Jean-Paul Cluzel, the agreement is comparable to the one reached at Radio France.
The unions that signed the deals reached as a result of the strike action at both Radio France and Radio France Internationale have acknowledged their limited scope. The SNJ trade union states that 'this is the absolute minimum', but according to one of the body’s three national secretaries, Claude Cordier, 'it is probably the most we could have expected under the current circumstances'.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2004), Strike at Radio France, article.
