Bad news for the Vertbaudet strikers. As they and they chain their seventh week of mobilization for a salary increase, in front of their warehouse in Marquette-lez-Lille, in the North, justice has just given reason to their employer. The latter was accused by the CGT union of hiring temporary workers to replace the strikers. The management of Vertbaudet appeared on Tuesday, April 25, before the Lille court.
The decision fell on Thursday. According to the interim order, that 20 minutes had the opportunity to consult, the law “does not generally prohibit any provision of temporary workers during a strike” and considers that “the CGT does not produce any minutes drawn up by a labor inspector”. Indeed, the union presented an “email” which does not constitute real evidence, according to the judge.
Conciliation meeting postponed
In a press release, Vertbaudet “welcomes that the judge in chambers recognized management’s arguments and ruled that the company fully complies with French law in the context of its use of temporary staff. Asked, Samuel Meegens, communication secretary of the local CGT union in Tourcoing, said that the union was going to appeal the decision, presenting new “explosive” elements from the labor inspector. The strike is renewed by the strikers until further notice.
As a reminder, on March 20, a few days after the start of the strike, the local CGT union in Tourcoing noticed a sudden flow of temporary workers in the warehouse. A labor inspector was therefore asked to check the situation at the logistics site. He had established certain observations. Thus, for the period from March 27 to 31, he pointed out, in a report presented to the court by the CGT, that “43 temporary employees were in post before the start of the conflict; 84 temporary workers were recruited to replace 82 strikers”. During the hearing, in court, Vertbaudet’s lawyer justified these hirings by referring to a “temporary increase in activity” which justified the use of temporary workers, according to AFP.
In addition, a conciliation meeting between Vertbaudet and the unions should have taken place this Thursday. The management preferred to postpone the meeting to Tuesday, “following the damage and violence that there was during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday”, according to Vertbaudet. According to Samuel Meegens, this meeting was organized on the initiative of the labor management. The CGT denies any violence and announces its willingness to file a complaint for defamation.