Paris (AFP)
The daily L'Humanité, placed in receivership at the beginning of February, plans to abolish 41 posts, more than a quarter of its workforce, to reduce its payroll, via a plan for safeguarding employment accepted unanimously by the organizations union, announced Sunday the National Union of Journalists (SNJ).
"After a month and a half of negotiations between the management, the judicial administrators and their union representatives, the employees of L'Humanité are preparing to pay the high price to participate in the collective effort and ensure the future of the newspaper founded there. 115 years ago by Jean Jaures: in the coming weeks, 41 posts (out of a total of 157, excluding freelancers) will be removed, including those of 28 journalists and 13 executives or employees, "said the SNJ section of the daily in a statement.
"By signing, along with the other trade union organizations, the unanimous social agreement on the + plan for safeguarding employment + (PSE), the SNJ union section of L'Humanité has taken its responsibilities, taking care to limit as much as possible the breakage for employees, "adds the union.
According to the SNJ, this PSE will reduce the payroll of the newspaper by 2.3 million euros a year. "The staff concretely put the newspaper under their protection, and assume all their share of the recovery effort," he argues, and this, in addition to the public subscription launched to help bail out L'Humanité, thanks to which "2.4 million euros have been raised since the beginning of the year".
However, this unanimous agreement "is nothing like a blank check for the future", adds the SNJ, which calls in particular to the management "a radical change" by involving staff in decision-making, asks the judicial administrators of "keep their promises" by renegotiating the debts of the company with its creditors and calls on the state to "ensure the survival of securities independent of the financial powers".
The newspaper L'Humanité, which declared itself in suspension of payments in January, was placed at the beginning of February in bankruptcy with continuation of activity. This procedure, accompanied by a six-month observation period, should enable him to put in place a plan to return to balance while continuing to publish it. This PES is part of these efforts to financially restore the bar.
Founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, tutelary figure of socialism in France, L'Humanité, which was from 1920 to 1994 the "central organ" of the French Communist Party, has regularly faced in recent years financial difficulties that forced him to launch several calls for donations.
? 2019 AFP