Building professionals authorized to have lunch in the multipurpose rooms

"Since the announcement of the second confinement, the restoration of construction workers has been made difficult in view of the climatic conditions linked to the winter period", acknowledge in a press release the Minister of Territorial Cohesion Jacqueline Gourault and the Minister Delegate in charge of Small and medium-sized enterprises Alain Griset.

Consequently, the government authorizes the mayors to make a room available, free of charge and at the request of companies, to allow construction workers to take their lunch break in a warm and sheltered location.

"Anything that contributes to facilitate the activity of companies, in particular the smallest of them, must be encouraged", expressed Alain Griset in the press release.

The measure was welcomed by Franck Serra, secretary general of the FO construction federation. "We are satisfied with the working conditions, that's a good thing," he said.

CGT side, "we agree with the measure", but we do not satisfy a provision which is intended only to be temporary.

"Eating out has always been a concern for employees," said Frédéric Mau, federal secretary of the CGT Construction, for whom the compulsory annual negotiations (NAO) in the sector only provide for "between 0 and 1%" of increase in salary "and nothing for meal allowances".

"The restaurant is inaccessible, and it's not 2020 and the Covid that make things change," he continued. "Today, the meal allowance has become a supplement to the salary".

The CGT recommends the installation of "bases of life" on the sites to eat warm. "Investing in a microwave oven and a fridge cannot endanger the financial health of the company," the union wrote in a statement.

The CAPEB welcomes this general measure that it called for and which, potentially, concerns, in the building crafts sector, more than a million workers spread across the entire territory.