Police officers stage Paris bus parade to demand better work conditions

PARIS : Police officers paraded on open-top buses through Paris on Wednesday to urge authorities to accelerate talks about labour conditions and pay during the 2024 Olympics to be held in the French capital.

"This is a warning shot to authorities to say that six months before the event, police forces do not know how the summer will turn out for them," Gregory Joron, head of the SGP Police FO union, told Sud Radio.

"Conditions under which police forces are being thrown into the Olympic games are not good," he added.

Joron reiterated demands for clarity about work conditions and notably for a 1,500 euros bonus for all police officers.

Police unions have already called for a Jan. 18 strike to voice their discontent ahead of the games.

Buses with banners reading "What is important is to ... anticipate," left the Saint Augustin church square, in central Paris, earlier on Wednesday and were headed to the Bastille square in the East.

Starting in late July - the middle of the national holiday season - the Olympics are set to put further strain on Paris's workforce, amid heightened security threats and chronic staffing shortages at police, hospitals and public transport.

Some 30,000 police officers and soldiers will be mobilised to secure the opening ceremony on July 26, when some 600,000 people are expected to watch athletes and delegations sail along the Seine river.