Around a hundred sites, mainly stores and some warehouses of the northern distributor Auchan, were mainly the subject of
“walkouts”
on Friday at the call of the four main trade union organizations, without preventing customers from doing their shopping, management indicated. .
Management declared having recorded
“walkouts throughout the morning over relatively short periods”
in 17 stores in the west of France, 27 in the north which is the stronghold of the Mulliez galaxy distributor, 27 in the 'East, 23 in Île-de-France and a dozen in the south of the country.
Half a dozen warehouses also experienced walkouts, management said Friday evening, adding that it was
“mainly elected officials and quite a few employees”
who mobilized.
The distributor's main union organizations - CFTC, CFDT, CGT and FO - had called on employees to mobilize on Friday to defend their remuneration, in a complicated economic context for the brand which has 160,000 employees worldwide - including 59,000 in France.
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Management turns a “deaf ear”
Bruno Delaye, central union delegate for the CFTC (first organization within the distributor), spoke of a
“very good mobilization, with visibility and respectful actions, in stores and in warehouses”
.
“This must be challenging for management which continues to turn a deaf ear”
to the demands of the trade union organizations, he said.
René Carette, CFDT central delegate, spoke of
“a big mobilization”
.
“It is time for management to come back to the table to negotiate with real proposals.
We give him until March 29, after which there will be strikes and blockages.”
Management indicated that its position remained unchanged, pleading that salaries within the brand were
“beyond the minimum wage and
sectoral scales” and that the increase for 2024, of 1.5%, should be
“put back into a two-year context
.
“Employees experienced an increase of 6.6% in 2023 and therefore 1.5% in 2024, executives 5.5% in 2023 and 1.2% in 2024, which is higher than inflation, estimated at 6.4% over the period
,” the distributor further indicated, specifying that
“the 15% discount”
on shopping at Auchan was maintained for all employees.