“We expected something, we were worried, and then here it is: 45 departures, including 26 journalists. » The Extraordinary Social and Economic Committee (CSE) held on 8 December in Free lunch (Free Midi Group, owned by La Dépêche Group since 2015) confirmed the concerns of the SNJ delegate, Cathy Rocher, as well as those of the entire regional daily with 14 editions, based in Montpellier (Hérault). “Crisis of the sector” aggravated by “two years of Covid and the outbreak of war in Ukraine”regression in circulation and advertising, “digital transition taking longer than expected”, “rise in raw materials”… in the long email sent to employees in the evening, the general manager Jean-Benoît Baylet repeated the inventory of “context elements” who convinced him to launch this voluntary redundancy plan.
“In one year, the price of paper has increased by 135%, energy by 190%, aluminum by 50%, and fuel in the proportions we all know”detailed the son of the former minister and boss of La Dépêche, Jean-Michel Baylet, announcing the color – dark – of the prospects that await Free lunch. The economic result will be “loss of 1.6 million euros » at the end of the year, and 2.8 million in 2023. In addition to the 26 journalists out of 120 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in the editorial staff, according to Cathy Rocher, the jobs of 9 secretaries are threatened, as well as a ten employees in general services, logistics, promotion, etc. The total workforce stood at 246 FTEs at the end of 2021.
For some union delegates, the social damage could be amortized if the negotiation on the starting conditions takes place correctly, by playing on the age pyramid. For others, it is the situation that will prevail once the downsizing has taken place that raises fears. During a general assembly organized in disaster at the beginning of the evening, Thursday, December 8, which more than 80 employees attended, “There was a part of dejection, a part of amazement, but also anger, in front of the proposed reorganization plan”, assures Guy Trubuil, the secretary of the CSE. Because for the elected SNJ – majority union in Free lunch –, “our concern goes to those who will stay”.
Concern about the workload to come
According to the first projections, the local Nîmes could thus go from 15 journalists to 8, that of Montpellier from 11 to 8, that of Alès from 6 to 4, and so on. If the pagination should, consequently, be reduced, the animation of the Internet site should not make it possible to reduce the workload. “It’s so discouraging that we wondered if this plan was not designed to encourage more candidates to leave than announced”, suggests Mr. Trubuil. In December 2021, an expert report produced by Syndex on the project “Web-first” (ongoing since mid-2021, and not called into question by the CSE) had “alert to the need for additional means to carry out the work, in health and safety”.
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