Le Figaro Lyon
If the walkouts until then remained brief and targeted, the production lines at the Cotelle factory could this time remain at a standstill for a while. The 104 employees of the site, the last in France to produce the famous Javel Lacroix, have been on indefinite strike since Wednesday evening. A decision which follows a difficult start to negotiations with the management of the Colgate-Palmolive group, the American shareholder who decided to close this part of Lyon's industrial history next September.
“We opened the door to negotiations by submitting a draft of support measures to management
,” explains Jean Martins, CGT staff delegate to Le
Figaro. But they came back to us with a plan that didn't take long. We therefore toughened our tone and warned that in the absence of correct and respectable proposals for people, we were going to change gear, with this unlimited strike.
For its part, management assured AFP that
“negotiations are continuing despite this strike”
, specifying that two meetings are planned for next week.
“Bercy is following the file”
The number one objective of employees, their representatives but also local political leaders remains the recovery of the site. Colgate-Palmolive, owner of Lacroix since the 1980s, has certainly chosen to relocate the packaging of the famous white and green cartons to Belgium. But the production lines could be useful to other manufacturers. This is also what the constituency MP, Alexandre Vincendet (ex-LR), pointed out during his visit to the site two weeks ago.
Touting
“a remarkable factory”
and
“invested employees”
, he mentioned a possible buyer who had contacted him.
“I directed him to Bercy, which is following the file
,” he confirmed today to Le
Figaro
. Cotelle's management was also received by the prefect of Rhône, Fabienne Buccio, on Tuesday, while the staff representatives will be there in the coming days. Three other possible buyers would have presented themselves to the firm mandated by Colgate-Palmolive as part of the cessation procedure.
Buyers who could maintain activity on the 14,000 square meters of factory, but not necessarily all the jobs. Hence the interest in the negotiations launched, to
“not send 104 people to the brink
,” insists Jean Martins. Complicated negotiations since with an average seniority of 26 years,
“we are dealing with quite high amounts”
, continues the trade unionist. Amounts which should allow these employees, aged 54 on average, to bounce back in a job market that they do not always approach with confidence.