Olympic Games: Olympics in Paris: Strike at the IOC temple

It was raining when Adéle Tellez opened the gate to the ground floor office on Rue du Nantes at 8:30 a.m. on Friday morning. Mon dieu, what rain! On the day of the opening of the Olympics, of all days, the temperature dropped to 18 degrees, but the union secretary of the 19th arrondissement doesn’t mind that. Cooling down a bit is good.

Lots to do these days, vacation time and the Olympics coming together and her little office is very busy these days. The 33-year-old currently represents the entire Paris branch of the Confédération générale du travail (General Confederation of Trade Unions), abbreviated as CGT, and her phone hasn’t stopped since Thursday: On that day, employees of the luxury hotel Hotel du Collectionneur decided to go on industrial action – of all things in the hotel that will host the International Olympic Committee and President Thomas Bach during the games.

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Strike at the IOC Hotel! A day before the opening ceremony, the CGT distributed a video via the short message service Monthly salary, no Olympics!” About 30 employees stopped work from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., right in the middle of breakfast time.

Do the IOC care about chefs and waiters?

The union explained the background to the strike on social media: The hotel owner has not increased wages for seven years and has now offered a paltry two percent wage increase for the 250 employees. On the other hand, the art deco temple in the upscale 8th arrondissement collected 22 million euros from the IOC during the Olympics alone, according to the CGT. The operating company paid out 9.5 million euros to the “stakeholders” last year. »Is the IOC aware that the 22 million paid flow directly into the boss’s pocket without going through the employee fund? Are cooks, waiters, receptionists and technicians worthless? asks the union.

The CGT claims that the 13th salary can already be financed for everyone with a fraction of the IOC sum. And thanks to the Olympics, it is receiving international attention: Will the strike-loving French start protesting right at the start of the Olympics?

Sports reporters from all over the world have been contacting Adéle Tellez since Thursday: “Guardian”, France TV Info, RTL Belgium, “nd.DieWoche”. What’s going on in the IOC Hotel? There’s a lot to explain: Trade unionist Tellez has to constantly charge her cell phone these days because she also accepts calls from the CGT’s Greenline phone. People can use this hotline to get union advice in emergencies during the Olympic Games.

Is the Greenline offer used? »Yes, of course people call. Some are supposed to do unpaid overtime because of the Olympics, others came to work late because of the disruptions in the subway and are now supposed to have their wages reduced.

Adéle Tellez warms up a cup of cold coffee from the day before in the microwave, then sits down at her desk and talks. “The IOC actually has nothing to do with the strike at the Hotel du Collectionneur,” she says, “it’s really about the situation in the hotel. It’s about the 13th month’s salary.” This was abolished at the Collectionneur during the corona pandemic and never reintroduced. »All five-star hotels in the greater Paris area pay a 13th salary. Except the collectionneur.”

In France, employers have to enter into compulsory salary negotiations with trade unionists once a year. “All luxury hotels in Paris reached an agreement with their employees before the Olympics, except the Collectionneur.” Instead, the owner is putting off the negotiations.

The French and the strikes, it’s a long story: In France, basically everyone is allowed to strike, the right to strike was introduced in the 19th century and has constitutional status, it is mentioned in the preamble to the constitution. Only two employees have to stop work together and it is considered a strike. In Germany, where the right to strike is also enshrined in the Basic Law, only trade unions are allowed to call for strikes.

As an elected trade unionist, Adéle Tellez can devote half of her working time to the CGT. On Thursday she stood in front of the luxury hotel on Rue de Courcelles in a red and yellow CGT vest and handed out flyers that provided information about the industrial action. “We weren’t allowed into the hotel itself, no wonder, there are hundreds of police officers all around.”

Cook without accreditation

Loris Toufania, the hotel’s union secretary, could also only protest in front of the building. The cook is of Armenian descent and had previously been screened out during a security check by the Ministry of the Interior when the IOC rented the hotel. The National Administrative Security Investigation Service (SNEAS) denied Toufania approval for accreditation for the IOC Hotel. “We don’t know whether the refused accreditation is related to his union work or to his involvement in protests against Azerbaijan,” says Tellez.

The matter is very unpleasant for the IOC. The Rings Association has completely blocked the royally furnished 487-room hotel for the Olympics. The cheapest room in mid-September can be booked on Booking.com for 580 euros. Real Madrid and other football clubs like to rent space here when they play in Champions League games against Paris St. Germain. In February, UEFA held a large congress in the traditional building.

According to the union, the average salary of Collectionneur employees is 2,200 euros gross. German IOC President Thomas Bach is unlikely to like the fact that the strikes are paying particular attention to the contradiction between low-wage earners and sports grandees. An “nd” query to his spokesman remained unanswered until yesterday afternoon.

The hotel operating company The Gate Collection also made no statements to this newspaper about the industrial action by its employees. No one could be reached by phone and questions sent by email were not answered. Compared to the Guardian, The Gate Collection was at least available make a statement, which said they were “in respectful negotiations” with employees about a 13th month salary. »Our hotel will continue to function optimally during this time.«

The Collectionneur employees themselves have brought the matter into motion with the strike. They are demanding negotiations about salaries as early as Monday, but there was no commitment from the hotel owner as of Friday afternoon. “You can conduct collective bargaining either way,” says Adéle Tellez. “Slowly or quickly, once a week or once a month.” She shrugs her shoulders and smiles: “We want it to be quick now. If nothing happens, there will be another strike on Tuesday!”

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