The sky is darkening for the bars and restaurants.
This Thursday, Olivier Véran, Minister of Health, could announce new restrictions to fight against the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic.
That same morning, the mayors of Paris, Lyon, Lille and Grenoble will be received in turn at Matignon to discuss “possible adaptations”.
Which ones?
Roland Héguy, Confederal President of the Union des Métiers et des Industries de l'Hôtellerie (Umih) is worried that after Aix and Marseille, bars and restaurants in other large cities, including Paris, will also be forced to decline the curtain for fifteen days.
“I am afraid that Paris and other big cities will close bars and restaurants,” he warns.
How to oppose it when the appeal filed by Umih against these closures was rejected today by the administrative court of Marseille?
Some restaurateurs have already taken the lead and have limited their supplies for this weekend.
On Friday, the Umih calls on all business leaders and their employees in bars and restaurants to "make noise" in front of their establishment at 11:45 am.
No question of disobeying government decisions.
“We are going to fight, insists Roland Héguy.
Our survival is at stake ”.
VIDEO. Philippe Etchebest wants to "make noise" to save restaurants
Will the government impose new closings of bars and restaurants?
ROLAND HÉGUY.
This is my biggest fear.
After Aix and Marseille, I'm afraid that Paris and other big cities will close its bars and restaurants.
Yesterday [
Editor's note: Tuesday
], during our meeting with four government ministers, Jérôme Salomon [
Editor's note: Director General of Health
] was present.
Listening to him give all his figures, I felt, between the lines, that this was the direction that was taken.
Are you resigned?
No, we will fight.
Our sector will not support a new closure.
Before the end of the year, 30% of bars, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs and caterers in Paris and Ile-de-France are already at risk of shutting down.
And 15% at the national level.
This represents 30,000 businesses and 220,000 jobs.
Without counting the induced jobs.
We support several sectors, breweries, roasters, security companies, housekeepers and all construction craftsmen.
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What are you asking for?
Let the government let us work.
More than 95% of professionals respect health protocols.
And we are ready to strengthen them.
We have proposed to set up reminder notebooks which will allow us to recontact our customers in the event of contamination.
We can also take their temperature.
All this already exists in certain sectors, notably in transport, and it works very well.
Why would these rules work when those already in place are not always applied, especially in bars?
If there are bad students, it's up to the state to do its job.
All summer, he let it go, especially along the beaches.
And now, because a minority does anything, the government wants to penalize 100% of a sector.
It's not acceptable.
It's a matter of public health ...
We will simply move the problem to private spaces.
There are already problems with apartments that are rented out to party.
We are aware that the government wants to preserve the health of the French.
But may he trust us and let us work.
Otherwise many establishments will die.
Yet the government has announced the extension until December 31 of the partial unemployment scheme with 100% compensation but also loans guaranteed by the State ...
These PGEs [
Editor's note: loans guaranteed by the State
], they will have to be repaid.
How do we do when we are forced to close?
I realize that considerable efforts have been made, but it is not enough.
VIDEO. Covid-19: in Paris, worried restaurateurs throw their keys to the ground
What are you asking for?
The rent problem must be resolved.
We can imagine that they are paid in proportion to the turnover achieved.
In return, the lessor would benefit from tax breaks.
There is also the problem of insurance.
At the last meeting, the government acknowledged that they had fallen short.
As in Germany, they would have to cover 15% of the operating loss.
We already have 5,000 establishments which will lodge an appeal with the courts to have their insurance cover these losses.
But what we want above all is to be allowed to work.
What if the government closes other bars and restaurants will you call to disobey?
No.
The Umih does not call and will not call to disobey.
But the government must respect us and consult us.
Our survival is at stake.