For employees, “the main subject remains purchasing power”

The scene was repeated in front of the Carrefour hypermarkets in Antibes, Troyes, Limoges, Evreux, Alençon or Toulon on Saturday September 24: customers were greeted by leaflets, banners and employees on strike.

Obviously, they are not convinced by the latest proposals made by management, Thursday, September 22, namely 2.5% increase, 100 euros bonus purchasing power and extension of a discount on purchase. And this, after a 1% increase granted in November 2021, 1.3% in February 2022, 1.5% in July as well as around 1,350 euros in profit-sharing and participation.

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It’s a real bummer! There is a huge turnover in our stores. Our working conditions continue to deterioratetestifies, of its hypermarket of Ollioules (Var), Nadia Ayad, central delegate FO (majority). And we are offered a 100 euro bonus? But we are not beggars! We are the second line! » she says, in reference to the designation of these “essential” workers during the confinements linked to Covid-19.

This movement begins a crucial week to take the pulse of the social climate. After the effervescence of the first half, where conflicts multiplied in companies over wages, against a backdrop of inflation (5.9% over one year in August), the start of the new school year has so far proved to be rather calm, while the management of soaring energy prices appears to be a new front.

“There is money in the coffers of PSA! »

However, whether they are employees of mass distribution, automobile or insurance, everyone agrees that, for them, “the main subject remains purchasing power”. “Everyone only talks about that”, summarizes Franck Théry, secretary general of the CGT at Stellantis (ex-PSA) in Hordain (North).

It was in this factory that the first jolt of mobilization took place within the automobile group: on Friday September 16, several hundred workers, according to the CGT (several dozen, according to management), striking. A video shows them leaving their workstations and singing in chorus: “There is money in the coffers of PSA! » Since then, short walkouts have taken place in several factories of the group.

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In the winter of 2021, at Stellantis, as at Renault or Michelin, the unions had refused to sign management’s proposals during the mandatory annual negotiations (NAO), a legal framework for discussing wages. The overall envelope of 3.2%, including 2.8% general increase for workers, was deemed insufficient, despite 4,000 euros in profit-sharing. But Stellantis weighs 8 billion in profits in the first half of 2022, up 34% year on year.

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