The situation does not make many laughs.
Announced last November 12, the closure of the Carambar factory in Marcq-en-Barœul (North) scheduled for November 2021, was the starting point for social conflicts and weekly strike movements at the confectioner, to such an extent that the stocks of sweets are dwindling from week to week.
While production must remain unchanged in the new factory, located eight kilometers from that of Marcq-en-Barœul, the unions denounce wage cuts "
of almost 25%
" that would accompany this transfer.
Read also: Green light for the takeover of Lutti by Carambar
It is in the historic factory of Marcq-en-Barœul that the famous Carambar have been manufactured since 1959, as well as the funny stories that surround them.
Last November, management therefore decided to combine the production of Carambar with that of Lutti candies, a brand acquired in 2018 by Carambar & Co under the aegis of the Eurazeo group, in its factory in Bondues (North).
But the social dialogue around this merger of production units quickly turned sour.
Lower wages
According to David Pourre, Force Ouvrière union representative at Carambar, the factory has been completely shut down by strikes every Thursday afternoon, Friday and some Monday mornings for four weeks now.
“These strikes follow meetings with management to discuss the job protection plan, every Thursday afternoon,” he
explains.
As long as the maintenance of our salary is not recorded, they will continue. ”
David Pourre ensures that employees would lose 15% of their base salary by changing plants, not to mention the bonuses that are threatened.
“In all, we estimate the pay cuts at 25%
,” he says.
The production is logically very affected by these days of strike.
According to FO, the factory was to bag 120 tonnes of confectionery in the second week of January, and only released 16.
"There is probably less than a month of inventory left,"
said David Pourre.
The management of Carambar has proposed a degressive allowance, therefore limited in time, to make up for lost wages.
But the solution did not convince the unions.
Read also: Lutti ready for acquisitions to establish his recovery
Contacted, the management of Carambar & Co responded by email.
“Carambar & Co's objective is to preserve employment in the same employment area, and to preserve the brand, in a difficult context: the confectionery market has been decreasing since 2017 and the year 2020 with COVID has been an accelerator
, she writes.
For economic reasons we must proceed with this reorganization to safeguard our competitiveness.
At this stage, we do not know any shortage on stocks, our products are available in the usual points of sale. "