French hospital staff up pressure over pay and conditions, ‘forgotten’ bio-cleaners too

France’s healthcare workers, who received wide public and official praise for their handling of the Covid-19 virus epidemic, are to hold nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday to highlight their longstanding demands over improved pay and conditions and hospital funding, and which had reached a stalemate last year. The street marches on Tuesday represent a show of force during an ongoing consultation process between unions and the government over pay, staffing levels and financing which was launched in May as a result of the health crisis. Meanwhile, non-medical hospital bio-cleaning and catering staff who also played a key role during the epidemic, but who complain of being overlooked, are demanding an end to a system of short-term contracts.