The movement protesting the pension reform extends to town halls. The national secretary of the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, indeed launched on January 24 an appeal to “mayors to show solidarity and to symbolically close their town hall on January 31, two to three hours, so that their agents can go to demonstrate” in the day against the reform brought by the government.
Several PCF elected officials quickly announced that they would join the movement, such as in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis) or Villejuif (Val-de-Marne), where Mayor Pierre Garzon stressed that “no social conquest has been won other than through mobilization. The councilor of Bonneuil-sur-Marne, Denis Öztorun Ömür, said that “Tuesday, January 31 will be a dead town hall day. In the interest of all the inhabitants who reject the pension reform, all our public services will be closed”.
Paris enters the dance
This Thursday, January 27, it is the socialist mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, who announced to join the call of the deputy of the North. “Certain public services must of course continue, I am thinking of civil status, but the Paris City Hall will be ‘solidarity town hall’ on the 31st”, explained the former presidential candidate on France 2. “The situation is much too serious, she insisted, the pension system is an achievement of the post-war period, of the national resistance council”.
In the North, the councilor of Faches-Thumesnil, Patrick Proisy (LFI), for his part explained that the hours of strike of the agents of his city would not be counted from 2 p.m., “so that they can return to the demonstration in Lille in the afternoon”. On January 19, during the previous day of mobilization, the LFI mayor of Grabels (Hérault) had already set up the same system, as reported France Blue.
Do elected officials have the right to close the doors of their town hall? Mayors are not salaried (they receive compensation based on the number of inhabitants of their municipality) and therefore cannot go on strike strictly speaking. On the other hand, the staff, employees, have the constitutional right to strike. “I remind you that Anne Hidalgo is also an employer, she has the right, like any employer, to oppose the pension reform”, said PS Senator Rachid Temal on Friday, on Public Senate / LCP-AN.
Obligation of public service neutrality
“It’s a fairly unprecedented situation,” said The Dispatch Alexandre Ciaudo, professor of public law and lawyer at the bar of Dijon. “The decision to restrict opening hours can only be taken by a mayor in the interest of public service. However, for the mayor of Paris, it is a political interest: support for the opposition to legislative reform. This is a clear misuse of power. In my view, this is not permitted by law.”
The experts indeed underline the obligation of neutrality of the public service. As explained to BFM TV Anne-Chalène Bezzina, political scientist, constitutionalist and lecturer in public law at the University of Rouen, “an elected official has no right to politicize his administrative actions”. However, in the case of town hall closures, “we are a bit in a gray area”. One thing is certain: civil servants who have the right to strike cannot prepare leaflets or slogans in their workplace.
On Friday, Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt believed that this symbolic closure posed a problem. “It’s a real political question, in terms of neutrality and respect for the convictions of fellow citizens, of citizens who, for some, are opposed (to the reform), (for) others in favor”, he said. highlighted on BFMTV and RMC. If the elected representatives on the left do not see where the problem is, those on the right cringe, shouting at “an obstacle to access to public services”.
A precedent in Lyon in 2018
“That we interrupt the operation of certain non-emergency services for a day does not seem to me to be a problem”, nuanced the constitutionalist Didier Maus with BFMTV. If a mayor chooses to close his town hall, he must, however, provide certain essential services, such as civil status, as Anne Hidalgo pointed out. The city councilor must also provide emergency services and take charge of any major disasters, such as the relocation of people in the event of a fire, for example.
However, if a citizen of one of the municipalities concerned feels wronged, he has the right to take legal action, as well as the prefect or the Ministry of the Interior. A precedent exists: in 2018, the administrative court of Lyon had deemed illegal the day without public services decreed by the mayor of Grenoble to denounce the reduction in budgetary allocations.