PARIS.- Police officers who perform duties in the Paris Olympic Games They will receive bonuses of up to 1,900 euros ($2,050), French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Tuesday.
Police unions, concerned about working conditions during the Olympic Games from July 26 to August 11 and the subsequent Paralympic Games, organized protests and walkouts over wage increases and guarantees of special vacations and childcare during the summer.
Darmanin wrote to the police that Interior Ministry employees will receive a bonus for working on the security operation of an unprecedented magnitude in France. Tens of thousands of police officers, thousands of soldiers and private security personnel will participate in the operation.
“I want your extraordinary investment to receive due recognition. I want you to know that you can count on me personally,” Darmanin wrote.
To compensate for the mobilization, staff who cut their summer vacations to work on the Olympic operation will receive a bonus of 1,000 euros ($1,080) or 1,600 euros ($1,730) if they work at a site where an Olympic event is taking place.
Additional benefits in Paris:
Darmanin said he wants 100% of the staff to be mobilized from July 24 to August 11, but promised that each one will have at least two weeks of vacation between June 15 and September 15.
“We also owe our thanks to their families,” Darmanin said. “I have asked the prefects to mobilize local public services to prioritize the care of the children of ministry employees during the Games.”
The threat to the security of the Games was highlighted when a tourist was stabbed to death near the Eiffel Tower on December 2. Also fresh in memory are large-scale attacks such as the one at the Bataclan music venue in 2015, in which Islamic extremists killed 130 people.
Source: AP
