Monday morning for Transports Berger employees was eventful.
More than 150 of them indeed met at 8 a.m. at the company's head office, near the Laval site (Mayenne) to demand an increase in their remuneration.
Wages were deemed too low in the face of ever-increasing inflation: “
We want a significant wage increase in relation to inflation.
We have salaries that can no longer take off from the SMIC
”, thunders Stéphane Ramond, union representative Central Force Ouvrière Transports Bréger, who has been trying for several months to change the wage situation.
The growing anger of the employees led to the opening of negotiations between the management of the company and the social partners from 2 p.m.
“
Management really thought that the lunch break was going to cause employees to give up, exasperated by wages that are not increasing and ever-heavier inflation.
They found out that they weren't after being refused after refusal after incessant calls to their employees to come back to work
”.
After several hours of discussions an agreement was finally reached at 8 p.m.
Significant progress
The movement will therefore ultimately have been short-lived.
The employees have obtained a graduated salary increase: from this month of October, a 5.4% increase in their salary will be paid to group employees, then will follow a second increase negotiated for January 2023, estimated at 1.5%. .
These increases will exclusively concern drivers, company employees and administrative staff.
These are not the 10% salary increase that Bréger's employees had hoped for, but enough to satisfy them and stop the protest and delight the unions: "
This is a first for me.
For eleven years that I have been around the table, I have never experienced this.
We gave management an ultimatum at the start of the negotiations at 2 p.m., saying that at 6 p.m. we wanted a solution.
At the end of the negotiations, at 6 p.m., the turnover had already lost 350,000 euros.
It put pressure on them, especially since we had been talking about this salary increase for a few months.
This result is the result of months of work
,” says Stéphane Ramond.
“We took into account the difficulties linked to inflation”
Management wanted to calm things down quickly.
Alain Egermann, the general manager of Bréger, heard the anger of his employees: “
Mandatory annual negotiations have been validated with staff representatives to start earlier than in previous years, because of inflation.
We took into account the difficulties linked to inflation and the fact that the minimum wage is constantly increasing and will surely increase again in January
,” he explains.
He adds all the same that these negotiations were not easy and that the management generally regrets the recourse to the strike: “
Strikes have serious consequences on the functioning of the company.
Since August, we had been working on these salary increases, so it was not so necessary.
But I am open to social dialogue and I hope that our decisions will have a positive impact on other areas
”.
The first salary increase is expected this month.