French public radio group Radio
France was back to regular programming on Thursday after unions ended a 28-day
stoppage, the longest strike in the broadcaster’s
history.
"I welcome the end of the conflict," Culture
Minister Fleur Pellerin said. The mediator she appointed last week will now
start a second phase of work of analyzing the points of view of the group's
4,400-strong workforce and the management headed by Radio France CEO 38-year-old
Mathieu Gallet.
The outside mediation and Pellerin's direct involvement
marked a defeat for Gallet, but the unions have so far also failed to roll back
his cost-cutting plan.
The group Radio France, with nearly 5,000 employees, runs
seven public stations and receives 664
million euros a year, 90 percent of it from a tax imposed on French households
with a television.
The stoppage began as a protest, mostly by production and
technical staff, against a cut in the public subsidy and an attempt to control
Radio France’s deficit, which will reach €21m ($23m) this year. Unions were
protesting management plans to cut 300 jobs and to shift some radio shows to
the web.
Resistance to reform hardened after it emerged that Mr
Gallet, who took over a year ago, refurbished his office with a view of the
Eiffel Tower in Radio France’s headquarters at the cost of €100,000 and hired a
PR consultant on a 90,000-euro salary as he was preparing his cost-cutting
plan.
Part of the problem is a culture clash. Mr Gallet, who
talks about branding and about a digital transformation, is regarded by
journalists as a sharp-suited bean-counter. Yet disgruntlement over Mr Gallet’s taste for
spreadsheets and new furniture masks a real problem at Radio France.
A crushing report
published this month by the public auditor pointed to a financing crisis and
long-running management failures. Between 2010 and 2013 the payroll bill
increased by nearly 10%, even as the headcount remained stable—and the audience
dwindled at two flagship stations, France Info and France Inter.
Journalists with over eight years of service, the report
noted, get nearly 14 weeks of paid holiday a year. Fully 388 staff are union
representatives enjoying protected jobs. There were a staggering 622
works-council meetings in 2013.
Only a tiny minority of the staff—about 6-10%—took part
in the strike. Many journalists turned up to work on programs, but because
technical and production staffs were on strike, they are unable to broadcast
them.
“Everybody knows
that reform must happen,” says one Radio France journalist. So far, though,
this looks like a case study in how not to go about it.
from The Economist
