A call for an “indefinite” strike at Radio France Internationale (RFI) has been issued by the FO, SNJ, SNJ-CGT and SNRT-CGT trade unions, beginning at 0000 on Thursday , calling for the management to agree to the departure of all volunteers for redundancy under the restructuring plan.

A general assembly of the staff is scheduled for late Thursday morning to decide whether or not to extend the movement. It cannot be said in advance whether or not this will cause any disruption to services at the station.

Around 270 members of staff at the state-owned station have volunteered for redundancy under the restructuring plan announced a year ago, which makes provision for only 201 job cuts out of around 1,000.

The trade unions are demanding that the 69 “refused voluntary redundancy” be able to leave and for the management to recruit to “compensate for these additional departures”, it was explained by Maria Afonso, the (FO) secretary of the works committee.

“The management has submitted a request to the regulatory authority (including the Ministry of Culture and Communication) to take care of the additional departures,” said Ms Afonso.

A meeting with RFI Chairman and Managing Director Alain de Pouzilhac and General Manager Delegate Christine Ockrent is scheduled to take place at the Ministry of Culture on Friday, according to Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand’s agenda.

The restructuring plan announced in January 2009 made provision for 206 job cuts, but as five posts had already been left vacant, the figure was set at 201.

The closure of six language desks (German, Albanian, Polish, Serbo-Croat, Turkish and Laotian) was also announced.