Paris (AFP)

"The management despises us": employees of the Carrefour group mobilized on Saturday throughout France, with strikes or demonstrations at the call of the CFDT and the CGT, to denounce poor working conditions and demand hirings and increases salaries.

"Highly exposed and in demand since the start of the health crisis," Carrefour employees "refuse social confinement" after "the announcement of exceptional 2020 results" for the group, the CFDT said in a press release.

In Marseille, the mobilization disrupted access to the largest Carrefour store in the city, in the northern districts, where customers were blocked in the morning for more than a kilometer, in a concert of horns, with the entrance of the car park hampered by carts lying on the ground and a filtering dam organized by the strikers.

"The store continues to run, but we are trying as much as possible to dissuade customers," Fiona Agueni, a student and cashier at the hypermarket, told AFP.

In Liévin (Pas-de-Calais), employees went on "strike, with impactful filtering", distributing leaflets, said Philippe Hureau, CFDT delegate, who, in addition to salary issues, criticizes "the lack of personnel in shop".

"We are not given the means to satisfy customers. There is a lot of waiting at the checkout," he lamented.

The strikers also denounce a plan to sell 40 stores under lease management in 2021, which would lead to a drop in remuneration for the employees concerned.

"We don't want to become like Leclerc or Intermarché," Mr. Hureau worried.

According to the two organizing unions, in total, around 100 hypermarkets and around 30 supermarkets have followed suit.

"It's a success", there were "5,000 strikers" who "walked out or went on strike all day," said Sylvain Macé, French group union representative of the CFDT.

"It's a success", but "the management refuses to dialogue," regretted his counterpart from the CGT, Philippe Allard, who counted "10,000 strikers".

- "We fed the people" -

The management counted for its part only "about 2,000" strikers out of "85,000 employees".

A spokesperson also noted that Carrefour had "paid this year the highest profit-sharing and profit-sharing amounts for ten years, which reach 1,200 euros on average for store employees, or 200 euros more than the year. latest".

Beside, an agreement providing for "1.2% increase in wages in supermarkets" and "+ 0.9% in hypermarkets with a premium of 200 euros gross" was signed, she added.

Wrong, retorted Mr. Macé.

"The increase is only 1% on average" in supermarkets, while "for hyper, it is + 0.5% in March and + 0.4% in September," he detailed .

As the management has not provided "any response to the demands, there is a risk of chronic disruption," he warned.

In Val-de-Marne, three stores were mobilized on Saturday, especially in Ivry-sur-Seine.

"Carrefour will pay 400 million euros to its shareholders, and only 200 euros gross (bonus) to its employees. This is unacceptable, especially in the conditions in which we work", with "aggressive customers" and "the lack of hiring, "protested Betty, CFDT delegate.

"The management despises us," protested his colleague Stéphane Desgranges, representing CGT.

"We have been open for a year, we fed people ...", he recalled.

"Today, (...) we leave the store open (...) but if the management does not hear us, we will take the next step," he warned.

In Angers, where employees organized a filtering dam with distribution of leaflets, "there is a real fed up", summarized Patrice Auvinet, CGT delegate.

"People feel despised by a management that has posted the best results for twenty years, while employees see only the crumbs (...) It's not even a question of money, it's a question of dignity, "he said.

The union appeal also mobilized in Brittany, Seine-Saint-Denis, Etampes, Bourges, Châlons-en-Champagne, Annecy, Dijon, etc.

In Nice, two hypermarkets were affected by the movement, which even won the Carrefour hypermarket in the Principality of Monaco.

burs-er / cel / cbn

© 2021 AFP