Paris (AFP)

No way out of the crisis in sight for the Team, which will not appear on Friday, the employees of the sports daily having decided Thursday to renew the strike, for a 14th consecutive day, against the elimination of fifty jobs.

While a new meeting (CSE) with the management was held on Thursday, the intersyndicale (SNJ - SNJ-CGT - BP-UFICT-CGT - SGLCE-CGT) reiterated its call to strike for 24 hours.

At the origin of the movement, initiated on January 8, a plan to safeguard employment (PSE) which provides for the elimination of around fifty posts, including 47 of journalists, within SAS L'Equipe (the daily , the magazine, Vélo Magazine and the weekly France football, in the process of becoming monthly) which employs 350 people.

In parallel, 12 job creations are planned to strengthen the Internet offer.

The goal is to save 5 million euros and avoid 6 million losses in 2021, in a context of falling paper sales made worse by the health crisis and the end of sports competitions in the spring.

Unions and employees are worried about the scale of these workforce reductions, accompanied according to them by less coverage of Ligue 1, rugby or Olympic disciplines.

They also denounce the starting conditions insufficient to promote voluntary departures, despite the improvements already made by the general manager of the group L'Equipe, Jean-Louis Pelé.

The inter-union emphasizes having challenged the latter on their main demand "the commitment not to proceed to forced departures" within the framework of the social plan.

"The director general refused to make this commitment for all categories, reserving it for the categories of iconographers and model makers, then that of photographers", indicate the unions.

If the inter-union declares to have "taken note of these advances", this one notes "that the risks of forced departures are still present in other categories".

The strikers are engaged in a race against time: the information-consultation on the PES will end on February 3, after which the management will be able to send its social plan for approval to the Directe (regional management of companies, competition, consumption, work and employment), according to Francis Magois (SNJ).

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