Interns at their wit’s end, exhausted in the face of endless days at the hospital … They therefore went on strike on Friday, June 18, and for two days, with a clear demand: “European and French legislation means a maximum of 48 hours of work per week for all workers.

So we decided to take that up again, saying: we are doing 48 hours of strike action to enforce these 48 hours of maximum work per week ” explains Gaëtan Casanova, president of ISNI, the InterSyndicale Nationale des Internes.

Up to 100 hours of work per week

In addition to extended days, two to three 24-hour guards must be added, and interns work on average more than 58.4 hours per week. And even up to 100 hours in some cases, always with the same salary.

An extremely heavy investment for their health. Two thirds of them suffer from anxiety, and a quarter from depression or have suicidal thoughts.

30,000 residents in hospitals

The 48-hour weeks then seem essential, and realistic according to this union. “We realize that an intern can work 30-40% of his time doing pure administrative tasks, the secretariat. So obviously, we arrive at 80 hours, why?

Quite simply, because it costs less to take an intern that you don’t pay, than to pay for a secretary, and therefore you can stay in the hospital for infinite times ” adds Gaëtan Casanova. Hospitals have nearly 30,000 residents, without whom many services could not function.