Concern is growing among the 3,800 employees of the largest SCOP (cooperative production company) in France, Scopelec, whose headquarters are located in the Tarn, a specialist in telecommunications infrastructure and technologies. In July 2021, the company lost contracts with Orange for a ” operating and maintenance market for telecom networks worth 150 million euros a year”. Sor almost a third of the company’s annual turnover (463.9 million euros).
According to the management of Scopelec, which refuses to communicate further, and the unions, nearly 1,900 jobs are threatened, including 580 in New Aquitaine, 500 in Occitanie and 300 in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. ” We have had no information for a month and the situation is becoming critical among employees, who are increasingly questioning themselves,” relates Frédéric Mazars, Force Ouvrière (FO) union representative and site manager in the Tarn.
Friday, January 14, they went on strike on sites in Occitania, in the Tarn, the Lot or in Aveyron. The day before, a meeting was organized in the premises of the regional council. The vice-president for economic development, Jalil Benabdillah, says to himself “extremely concerned” and also speaks of a threat to 1,800 to 1,900 jobs. “We ask that Orange formally follow what they have promised us, that is to say no loss of jobs in our territories”, says the chosen one.
The incumbent operator, 23% owned by the State, confirmed to the World that two of the three lots awarded, following a call for tenders launched in January 2021, were lost by Scopelec. Marc Blanchet, the company’s Orange technical and information systems director, explains: “In a highly competitive sector, we have modified specifications to meet the demands of our customers. Scopelec, which was our first subcontractor, did not give any guarantees and, above all, many quality indicators had been lacking for several years. » The operator’s majority union, the CFE-CGC, has requested an audit of these indicators, “out of respect for a fifty-year long relationship”.
“Not an average subcontractor”
During this national call for tenders, France was divided into thirty-five zones, including three for Occitania. The companies Solutions 30, Sogetrel and SADE Télécom were selected. On March 3, Orange will award the last batch, called “network work customer intervention”, which only concerns 200 to 300 jobs in France. On the side of the Occitanie region and among employees, hope is in the companies that have won the contracts and would be likely to take on Scopelec employees.
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