Paris (AFP)

The management of the restaurant chain Flunch, which has just obtained the opening of a safeguard procedure, unveiled on Tuesday a list of 57 sites to be sold, directly threatening 1,244 jobs, deplores the intersyndicale in a press release.

"A great emotion is felt by these 1,244 employees, including 44 positions removed at headquarters, awaiting the fate reserved for them," said a statement.

"This situation generates anger on the part of these employees."

"We are awaiting the elements, in particular the objective criteria, which led the management to choose these establishments, as well as the precise detail of the organization chart within the framework of the restructuring", he continues.

According to union sources, management indicated that it already had avenues of recovery with some of the 66 franchisees who are not affected by the project.

From the same source, it is indicated that all the sites identified as being in great difficulty before the onset of the health crisis and targeted by a plan to safeguard employment (PSE) planned for a long time, that is to say a fifteen restaurants are found in this list.

This also gives pride of place to Île-de-France since 12 restaurants, more than half of the region, are concerned.

"All the latest openings are targeted, this shows that our system, our concept were outdated," regrets a trade unionist, who ensures that the existence of sites generating the most traffic, even if they are not profitable, is not threatened with regard to the potential they present.

An extraordinary meeting of the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) will take place on February 17 to initiate the procedure for supporting and reclassifying the employees concerned.

Founded in 1971, Flunch, which claims to be "the first French self-service catering chain" with 55 million customers served per year before the Covid in 227 restaurants in France, belongs to the constellation of companies of the Mulliez group (Decathlon, Auchan, Boulanger, Leroy Merlin, Kiabi, Saint Maclou…), for the most part based in the north of France.

The brand with 5,000 employees has been hit hard by the health crisis.

Questioned by AFP, the management did not wish to reveal the list of targeted restaurants so as not to jeopardize the recovery procedure.

She said the company had entered "the divestiture process, which will take six to eight months."

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