Champagne production threatened?
The CGT called for a strike by employees in the sector on Wednesday to demand an immediate increase in wages and the revaluation of transport bonuses in the face of “galloping inflation” and the explosion in energy prices;
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France Bleu Champagne-Ardenne
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The Tripartite Champagne Commission, which brings together delegations representing employers, as well as unions from the general and agricultural scheme, usually meets once a year in January, to negotiate wage scales and minimum social benefits.
“Faced with galloping inflation, we asked in June for an exceptional meeting with the Union of Champagne Houses (UMC), obtained on September 20.
But we only received contempt, they only sent us back to state aid, ”deplores the secretary general of the CGT Champagne, José Blanco, to AFP.
All houses affected?
The CGT calls for "an immediate increase of 3.3% in wages" to "stick" to the inflation rate, estimated by INSEE at 5.9% over one year in August.
"We are therefore calling for a work stoppage from 2 p.m." in "all the houses", he said, believing that the movement would be "very followed", the CGT being "largely in the majority".
If an increase of 2.6% had been granted last January, "the method of calculation is based on the past year, it no longer fits the current situation", he judged.
“The minimum wage is catching up with our salaries”, “some beginner employees are at 1,300 euros per month”.
Record sales in 2021
Champagne sales reached record levels in 2021, with more than 320 million bottles sold, and a turnover of some "5.5 to 5.7" billion euros.
And those numbers could still be beaten this year, he said.
If the negotiation takes place in January, "it is because we are waiting for the results of the houses, and the average annual inflation", explained to AFP Michel Letter, president of the tripartite commission and representative of the employers.
“I was surprised by this request in session (…) they know that it does not work like that”, he said.
Understanding the demands, he says he "proposed that we advance the negotiation to December 15".
"It's true, sales are not bad, but you have to look at the increase in the cost of raw materials, transport (...)" and "the results of the houses", which can be very different from one to the other, he decided.
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