They responded to the August 10 call. Carrefour, Orange, EDF and GRDF have taken measures to facilitate the release of their volunteer firefighters, responding to Gérald Darmanin’s request on Wednesday, in order to strengthen the system for fighting exceptional summer fires. The CEO of Carrefour, Alexandre Bompard, was the first to draw, calling on Twitter on Wednesday “each store and warehouse manager” in the group to “release our colleagues who can go as reinforcements from their professional obligations”.
The number of days during which volunteer firefighters can be free in the event of an emergency is set by each company through an agreement signed with the departmental fire and rescue service. Orange, GRDF and EDF usually set the ceiling of secondment days at 15 per year during which volunteer firefighter employees can free themselves. Carrefour, for its part, plans ten working days under agreement, which will be uncapped in view of the “exceptional” situation. Gervais Pellissier, HRD at Orange, also tweeted that, “in addition to the fifteen days of absence authorization dedicated to their commitment, additional days will be granted”.
No limit for GRDF employees, salaries maintained
“In the Brive-la-Gaillarde hypermarket, two of our firefighter employees have decided to mobilize: a sales consultant, who is leaving today until Sunday, and a drive-thru employee who will leave next week” , detailed the Carrefour group on Friday. In total, some 135 Orange employees are volunteer firefighters, distributed “a bit everywhere in France” and “more in rural areas than in urban areas”, indicated a spokesperson.
“Faced with the seriousness of the fires and their exceptional intensity”, EDF announced Thursday evening in a press release that it had “taken the decision to release all the volunteer firefighters from EDF and Enedis, who are not essential to the production and the continuity of the supply of electricity”. On the GRDF side, the management had already granted 5 additional days in July to allow its 140 volunteer firefighters to free themselves. “At the request of Minister Gérald Darmanin, in August, GRDF authorizes the employees to be released, to have the managerial agreement and without limit”, explained the group on Friday, indicating that the employees deployed on the fires will continue to receive their salary.
On the employers’ side, François Asselin, president of the CPME, welcomes “this organized solidarity which has existed for a very long time”, stressing however that “the smaller the company, the more complicated it can be. For a restaurateur who releases his chef, it is almost equivalent to lowering the curtain, ”according to him.