Souring the run-up to French National Day, the Consulate here witnessed a rare strike by its staff.
Staff members under local contract of the French Consulate here held a one-day strike on Monday — a first in about 15 years — with a list of demands, including the provision for house rent allowance.
The 28 staff members, of which 16 are French nationals, are demanding that they be paid house rent allowance like staff members of other consulates and the embassy in India. Staff member G.S. Patnaik said that they have been pressing for the demand for the last five years. While the house rent allowance is the foremost of their demands, the staff members represented by Lydia Appavou and Gisele Ramesh are also asking that the dearness allowance be adjusted according to present Indian inflation rates. Some of the staff members also said that the consulate must follow guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of External Affairs with regard to minimum wage structure of staff employed by foreign embassies in India.
All services at the French Consulate were suspended on Monday. The staff members said they had given notice to the management on June 19 and had resorted to a strike as there was no response.
French Consul General Philippe Janvier-Kamiyama could not be reached for comment.
