Strike announced at the Regional Fire and Rescue Service
The National Union of Independent Trade Unions (UNSA) has given notice of a strike starting on 1 June, following several months of negotiations with the authorities of the Territorial Fire and Rescue Service (STIS) of Saint Martin. The union is contesting the circumstances under which a permanent staff member was removed from their post. “Defending one staff member means defending all staff members.”
Hubert Fleming, a senior regional editor and permanent staff member of the Collectivité de Saint-Martin, has been seconded to the SDIS and subsequently to the STIS since January 2009, where he serves as head of human resources and payroll. On 6 March 2026, an agreement was signed formally setting out his role as head of department for a period of three years. On the following 31 March, the STIS initiated a procedure to terminate the secondment. A recruitment process was then launched for the same role, resulting in the appointment of a contract staff member. For UNSA, the position is clear: a filled post is not a vacant post.
Questions regarding the validity of the procedure
UNSA raises several points. The post was reportedly declared vacant whilst the secondment agreement was still in force. No formal decision to terminate the secondment was reportedly notified to the staff member, and no justification for the use of a contract worker was communicated to the union. The union also condemns the numerous grey areas surrounding the conditions of recruitment for a permanent post, as well as the sidelining of social dialogue and the disregard shown towards the union’s warnings. UNSA points out that the General Civil Service Code stipulates that a permanent post must be filled, as a matter of priority, by a permanent civil servant. The union also notes that a previous meeting with the leadership of the Collectivité and that of the STIS had resulted in verbal assurances ruling out any abrupt action against the employee.
A formal notice following several months of efforts
UNSA states that it has been in frequent contact for several months: official letters, meetings with STIS management, discussions with the Directorate-General for Services and meetings with local authorities. Deeming the responses insufficient, the union has filed a strike notice for 1 June, open to all staff wishing to join the action. It is demanding clear and legally sound administrative responses, an end to all arbitrary or opaque management practices, and the safeguarding of the officer’s employment status. In its press release, UNSA is explicit: “After seventeen years of continuous service within the same organisation, no public sector worker should feel that their position can be called into question without clarity, without sufficient guarantees and without legal certainty.”
