On Tuesday, some 70 employees of the Vertbaudet warehouse in Marquette-lez-Lille, in the North, began their sixth week of strike, supported by the CGT union in their demand for a salary increase. And it was also on Tuesday that the childcare sign appeared before the Lille court, summoned by the union which accuses it of replacing the strikers by resorting to acting.
Shortly after the start of the strike, on March 20, the local CGT union in Tourcoing denounced the massive arrival of temporary workers at the Marquette logistics site. At first, the union claimed that “139” temporary workers had been recruited to “break the strike”. To prove these allegations, the strikers requested, and obtained two days later, an on-site visit by a labor inspector. The latter sent his findings by email to management and the CGT on April 7. Mail that 20 minutes was able to consult and in which the labor inspector explains: “Thus, for the period from March 27 to 31, 2023, I am able to establish that 43 temporary employees were in post before the start of the conflict; 84 temporary workers were recruited to replace 82 strikers”.
The strike renewed “unanimously”
At Tuesday’s hearing, the management of the site disputed any illegal hiring and gave the president the same arguments as the labor inspector. That the temporary workers were used to replace 43 employees on permanent contracts “whose employment contract is currently suspended for sick leave, parental leave, sabbatical leave, paid leave, accident at work”. According to AFP, Vertbaudet’s lawyer reported before the court “testimonies from all the other unions: CFE-CGC, FO and CFTC”, attesting that the management “did not replace the striking employees”. .
In court, the brand’s lawyer also mentioned a “temporary increase in activity” which justified the use of temporary workers. She added that another promotional operation must take place from this Wednesday until May 2. The use of temporary workers is “however much lower than the initial objectives” and “down by 136 people” compared to the same period of 2022, underlines Vertbaudet.
The court’s decision is expected next Thursday. It will have to establish whether, yes or no, Vertbaudet actually used the interim to replace the strikers. It should be noted that the labor inspector had reminded management that “the right to strike is a constitutional right” and that “the articles L.1242-6 and 1251-10 of the Labor Code prohibit the use of employees on fixed-term contracts and temporary workers to replace strikers. “For their part, the strikers “have decided unanimously to renew the strike”, declared, Tuesday evening, the CGT.