While everywhere in France the demonstrators were mobilizing against the pension reform, the day of Tuesday was particularly agitated in Ploërmel, in Morbihan.
In addition to the procession marching past the town hall square against the government's plan, a rally of around fifty employees took place in front of the Yves-Rocher factory (108 employees) to protest against the agreement signed the same day by the flagship of French cosmetics, which provides for the elimination of 300 jobs on all Breton sites.
The management of the Rocher group is banking on internal and external mobility measures, in particular early retirement.
This device is “
based on volunteering
”, specifies a press release published by the management.
The Ploërmel site, where the brand's perfumes are produced, could close by 2025, "
if volumes remained on the trend of the past three years
".
According to a union source familiar with the matter, the first machines of the factory would be transferred to another site (that of Rieux, 60 km away) from May.
This downsizing is part of a job and career management agreement (GEPP), signed with the trade unions representing the company.
During the negotiations last January, the inter-union had split since the two majority unions - the CFTC and the CFE-CGC - had ratified the agreement, despite the opposition of Force Ouvrière, the company's third union.
The group is struggling to recover from the health crisis
At the origin of the rally organized on Tuesday, Force Ouvrière intended to take advantage of the mobilization against the pension reform to challenge the group's strategy.
Last January, the secretary general of the Departmental Union FO Pierrick Simon, denounced the "
paradox
" of the agreement in the daily Ouest-France: "
The government keeps telling us that we will have to work until 64 or even 67 years old, and at the same time, the management of Yves-Rocher decides to eliminate 300 workstations, mainly targeting the oldest employees
.
Decried by Ploërmel employees, this voluntary departure plan is not, however, a surprise.
The Breton giant is struggling to recover from the health crisis, which led to the forced closure of its stores around the world and the slowdown in its industrial activity.
Above all, the brand has suffered from the drop in sales of cosmetic products observed since the first confinement.
According to Nadine Doudard, FO central delegate, “
Yves Rocher has lost 30% of turnover and part of the clientele, going from 420 million products manufactured in Brittany in 2019 to 270 million per year
”.
During the group's Social and Economic Committee last October, the management had recognized the "
underperformance of the brand
" and a "
historically low profitability
” in recent years
.
In a statement made public on Wednesday, the leaders hope that the transformation plan initiated by the agreement will allow the group to "
adapt to new ways of consuming and quickly return to the path of growth".