Four decades since the local union of Levallois-Perret, which brings together the five main organizations defending the rights of private sector employees in the area (CGT, FO, CFTC, CFE-CGC, CFDT), has occupied premises made available by the town of Levallois.
However, with five moves, following the real estate projects which have seen the city transform since 1984.
But this time, the municipality has decided not to renew the occupation agreement for the premises on rue Deguingand, located at the foot of the So Ouest tower, without any other rehousing proposal.
This Friday morning, the unions gathered in the street, around thirty people, to contest this eviction and alert employees in the neighborhood.
“The occupation agreement expired on January 8.
We discovered through a simple letter in the mailbox that it was not renewed even though the union has been established here since 2011,” laments Élisabeth Ornago, general secretary of the CGT departmental union of Hauts-de- Seine, emphasizing the importance of this union center which welcomes employees in difficulty every day.
She also questions the arguments of the town hall which wishes to recover the 100 m² premises made up of offices, a large meeting room and storage spaces, without informing them precisely of their future use.
“I am constantly contacted by associations which work on a daily basis for the inhabitants of Levallois and who are looking for premises”, explains the mayor (LR) Agnès Pottier-Dumas, who does not intend to justify herself further to the unions who ask her accounts.
“Providing premises free of charge is neither an obligation nor a right for life”
“I understand that having spacious and free premises is comfortable for them, but we also have needs and here we have reached the end.”
The councilor assures that she will be “inflexible” on the subject and that it is a “political choice”.
“Providing premises free of charge to trade union organizations other than those representing city employees is neither an obligation nor a right for life,” insists Agnès Pottier-Dumas.
“The right to organize is, however, a constitutional right,” replies Annie Mandois, former communist elected official from Levallois, who came to support the unions with, under her arm, the deliberation voted on in the municipal council in 2011, establishing the provision of the premises.
“This decision to abolish the union center was not presented to elected officials,” she laments before continuing: “Since 1984 and the closure of the Labor Exchange, we have fought on several occasions so that the union is relocated.
There is no question of giving in today.”
The unions, with the exception of the CFTC which has packed up, are now awaiting their formal notice to leave the premises by a bailiff.
“Then we will make a voluntary appeal, which will save us two months,” explains Élisabeth Ornago, who promises other actions.
And the mobilization of trade unionists integrated into the many large companies established in Levallois.