A social plan is in sight The Voice of the Northwhere pre-negotiations are underway on a project providing for a hundred job cuts, out of 580, including 70 among journalists, according to the inter-union, which denounces “unprecedented violence”.
In a press release sent to employees, the CGT, the SNJ, the CFDT and the CFE-CGC, alert on this plan, after “a fourth meeting of discussions” by having specified the contours. “The only objective of the management is to make massive savings”, via a “real bleeding” among the staff not excluding, “for the first time, forced departures”, castigates the press release.
“Press agency” and “pooling”
The project also provides, according to the intersyndicale, “a complete reorganization of the premises, going from 17 to 13 editions”. The management also wishes to “outsource some of the editorial tasks carried out locally to a ”press agency””. It is also planned to abolish the Calais office, “as part of pooling” with North Coastanother title of Belgian group Rossel.
“These are the two main points of friction”, commented for AFP a union source, specifying that the management had started discussions on this project at the beginning of October. In the immediate future, the inter-union does not wish to communicate more, “because the pre-negotiations are not completed, we hope for changes”, added this source. “We do not agree with all of this plan, the time has come for the management to present new proposals”, concludes the inter-union.
The last PSE in this title, flagship of the regional press, had resulted, in 2017, in 132 voluntary departures, while 178 were envisaged at the start. Asked by AFP, management declined to comment on Tuesday.