Le Figaro Lyon
120 years since the Cotelle factory in Rillieux-la-Pape has been packaging bleach in the white and green cartons known to all.
To the point of being today the last in France in this segment.
It even owned the brand until its acquisition by Colgate-Palmolive at the end of the 1980s. After several years of declining activity, the American group ended up announcing the closure of the site in the Lyon suburbs.
The 104 permanent employees and some temporary workers are now fighting to avoid the fateful date of September 2024, and the definitive shutdown of the production lines.
“On-site staff have been reporting declines in manufacturing volumes for years. We asked for advertising campaigns and new productions, in vain
,” recalls Jean Martins, CGT union delegate.
The French brand competes with those of distributors, manufactured by the rival McBride, but also from other products.
“The only response from management to maintain their margin was to increase prices, so that customers will look elsewhere
,” he continues.
Today, the volumes of Javel and Soupline packaged on the Rilliarde lines are at their lowest.
And as Palmolive is also Cotelle's only client, American management announced its closure during an extraordinary CSE held on January 31.
The activity must be taken over by McBride factories in Belgium and Brittany.
“Cotelle is not a factory that is closing for bankruptcy
,” chokes up Christian Dupoizat, CGT representative on the Social and Economic Committee (CSE).
It has no loss, it reaps profits - 1.8 million in 2021 and 1.7 in 2022, and 2.1 in 2023 - which are systematically redistributed as dividends
.
In 2020, they were even higher, supported by significant demand during the Covid pandemic.
“We produced at 130%, we were invested in the same way as the nurses, because the product we produced saved people from Covid,
recalls Jean Martins
, and today we are being thrown away like trash, people are very upset »
.
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“Everyone maintains the production tool”
A first demonstration took place in front of the factory gates last week.
But the employees have since returned to their jobs.
“They are at work, everyone maintains the production tool
,” continues Jean Martins
.
Staff are affected by their job loss in September, but until then we cannot afford to stay at the gate
.
Enough to support the proposal made by the unions for the takeover of the site and machines by McBride.
“Our goal is that everyone can continue to work on site
,” says Christian Dupoizat.
The unions are currently refusing to come to the negotiating table.
And suggest a possible hardening of the tone.
“The pressure will gradually increase for families between now and September,”
observes Jean Martins
.
Today, we are in very nice demonstrations, but if we are not listened to, we will have to make sure that we are,
like
the farmers
.
They received the support of the mayor of Rillieux and his predecessor, Alexandre Vincendet, now LR deputy for the constituency.
The latter wrote to Bruno Le Maire to ask him to follow the file.
He is expected to visit the site in the coming days.
A meeting is planned with employees and union officials at the end of the month.
How to prevent the 104 employees from reporting to Pôle emploi at the start of the next school year?
Not sure... especially since the average age is 54 in the workforce and more than 26 years of seniority.
Not necessarily enough to approach a job search calmly.
“We were a family business that knew how to maintain this DNA.
There were plants in the break rooms, the factory was a part of people's lives, their second home.
But with the takeover by Colgate, all of this was dismantled little by little,”
regrets Christian Dupoizat.
As with Casino in Saint-Étienne, the union delegate sees the end of this
“family capitalism”
.