Bars and restaurants do not want to close

After the hangover, the slingshot is organized.

Restaurants and bar managers are trying to mobilize to remove, or at least relax, the government measures announced Wednesday to slow the progression of Covid-19.

From this Sunday, midnight, all the bars and restaurants in Aix and Marseille, ie around 5,000 establishments, will remain closed until October 11 inclusive.

If the Union of Trades and Industries of the Hotel Industry (Umih) of Marseille, which also represents restaurants and bars, does not call for disobeying new government rules, it is preparing the response.

"We are not going to live under the diktat of Paris," warns Bernard Marty, president of the Umih of Marseille.

We will organize actions here and there.

No doubt blockages ”.

A resistance which is also developing in the judicial field.

“The Region, the Department, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Metropolis and us, each mobilized his lawyer, details Bernard Marty.

This afternoon

) and Monday, we will file appeals before the administrative tribunal against this incomprehensible decision ”.

And the boss of the Umih de Marseille to list one by one all the figures that reflect the progression of the virus in France.

"There are many metropolises which have much worse statistics than ours and yet it is here that the new rules are the hardest."

"This government is not listening to us"

And what do the compensation measures that may have been announced for restaurants and bars in the area matter, such as cancellation of charges, partial activity paid at 100% or access to the solidarity fund.

“Since Friday I have been waiting for Mr. Griset (

) to send me a letter of commitment.

For the moment, it is only communication ”.

This annoyance is all the more important as the managers of bars and restaurants have proposed alternatives: "We were ready to toughen up the protocol," insists Bernard Marty.

And in particular to take the temperature of our customers or to recontact them if a positive case was detected.

This government is not listening to us.

But let him not be deluded.

If the rules harden in other territories, our movement will spread oil ”.

Thus, in Paris, there were less than two hundred catering and bar professionals, gathered this Sunday at Place des Invalides (7th arrondissement) to say no to the early closing of bars every evening.

From this Monday evening in the capital but also in ten large cities - Lille, Toulouse, Saint-Etienne, Rennes, Rouen, Grenoble, Montpellier, plus Bordeaux, Lyon and Nice - where the virus is circulating rapidly, the bars will have to close at the latest at 10 p.m.

Among the organizers of this movement, called “Let's stay open”, there is Stéphane Manigold at the head of four gourmet restaurants.

The business manager has become famous since he opposed Axa and won a case for his operating losses linked to Covid-19 to be compensated by the insurer.

“We have deliberately limited the number of participants in order to respect barrier gestures,” indicates Stéphane Manigold.

But the message is clear.

We cannot be told to close our establishments without discussing when we have been following government rules from the start ”.

With his eyes still asleep after a night's work, Jean-Guillaume, who manages the Isadora cocktail bar, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, warns: “To close at 10 pm is equivalent to closing my bar.

Over 70% of my turnover is made after 10 p.m.

How do I pay my fixed charges?

".