Grandstand. Since April 15, 2020, Anthony Smith, labor inspector of the Marne department, former secretary general of the CGT-TEFP and member of his national office, representing labor inspectors at the National Council of Labor Inspection, can no longer exercise its missions to protect the health and safety of workers.
He was indeed laid off by the Minister of Labor, Muriel Pénicaud, and is the subject of disciplinary proceedings. What is he accused of? According to the Ministry of Labor, to have “[méconnu] deliberately serious and repeatedly the instructions of the central authority of the labor inspection system concerning the action of the inspection during the Covid-19 epidemic “. In fact, after the reminder of the legal obligations remained without effect, to have initiated without the approval of his hierarchy a summary procedure so that is prescribed in particular the use of masks for the employees · es of a support structure at home, particularly exposed to Covid-19 due to their activity, and to have sent letters of reminder of the regulations to other companies in its sector again asking, in particular, for the supply of personal protective equipment for workers · Euses.
Read alsoSuspended labor inspector: the policy of taming
Since the beginning of the health crisis that we are going through, the government’s orientation is the pursuit of economic activity at all costs, and whatever the cost for employees. The Labor Inspectorate is perceived as an obstacle to this orientation, which it is a question of putting in the step. To this end, the Ministry of Labor is ready for any excesses and does not hesitate to happily violate national and international texts, in particular convention number 81 of the International Labor Organization, which makes agents of the freelance labor inspectorate “From any improper external influence” and gives them the right to freely decide on their interventions and the follow-up they give to them. However, article L 4732-1 of the labor code provides that the labor inspector may decide alone to refer the matter to the judge for interim measures.
The lay-off of Anthony Smith, which occurred at the direct request of the employer targeted by the summons and of local political leaders, including the president of the departmental council, is a summary of these excesses and the political front overthrown by the government. Rather than sanctioning, the role of the Ministry of Labor should be to protect agents who, in these difficult circumstances, act in accordance with labor law to protect the health of employees. This is why we, politicians, trade unionists, activists, associations, feminists, artists, intellectuals, together demand the immediate reinstatement of Anthony Smith and the abandonment of all disciplinary proceedings against him. We affirm that in these exceptional circumstances where hundreds of thousands of employees expose their health and their lives daily, the Labor Inspectorate must have the means to independently monitor compliance with health and safety rules.
First signatories: Philippe Martinez, secretary general of the CGT; Benoît Teste, secretary general of the FSU; Cécile Gondard-Lalanne, spokesperson for the Union Solidaires union; Estellia Araez, President of the Syndicat des Avocats de France; Katia Dubreuil, president of the Magistrates Union; Nicolas Girod, spokesperson for the Peasant Confederation; Aurélie Found, Attac spokesperson; Suzy Rojtman, spokesperson for the National Collective for Women’s Rights; Malik Salemkour, President of the League for Human Rights; Caroline De Haas, feminist activist; Bernard Thibault, workers’ representative on the ILO Governing Body; Clementine Autain, member for Seine-Saint-Denis; Monique Pinçon-Charlot and Michel Pinçon, sociologists, former CNRS research directors; Nicolas Silhol, director Corporate); Jean-Luc Mélenchon, chairman of the LFI group at the Meeting; Nathalie Arthaud, spokesperson for Lutte Ouvrière; Fabien Roussel, PCF national secretary; Olivier Faure, first secretary of the PS; Christine Poupin, NPA spokesperson.
To see the list of the 145 signatory personalities (political leaders, trade unionists, activists, associations, feminists, artists, intellectuals), click on this link.
A collective of political leaders, trade unionists, activists, associations, feminists, artists, intellectuals
– .
