Orange Bank employees were called to strike on Thursday, with unions fearing that a large proportion of the online bank’s employees will not find work when the operator closes it.
It’s a positive day, CFDT Orange Bank union delegate Gwladys Flory-Celini told AFP, with 60% of the workforce following the strike according to her, out of a workforce of around 650 employees.
Orange announced in June the upcoming closure of its bank, launched with great fanfare by former CEO Stphane Richard in 2017. on the basis of banking activities acquired from the insurer Groupama and remaining deficits.
The group has entered into negotiations with BNP Paribas, which should be able to take over part of Orange Bank’s 800,000 customers in France, but neither its activities nor its employees. He promised exemplary support from all employees.
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The priority for Orange remains exemplary support for all employees within the framework of a job protection plan (PSE), an AFP spokesperson indicated. Today these discussions are continuing and we do not wish to go into details at this stage, she added.
Less than 300 reclassification offers, out of 650 employees
The proposals made by management are not real proposals but measures, believes Ms. Flory-Celini. According to her, management has currently only made 180 reclassification offers firm, secure and 90 equal competence. For others, it will be a take it or leave it offer (…) not necessarily equivalent to your qualifications.
You were a banking advisor, tomorrow you will be an advisor to Sosh, the group’s entry-level telecom brand, summed up the union delegate.
Management intends to implement a discounted PSE, aiming to lay off staff at the lowest cost and to transfer BNP Paribas customers in a straightforward manner by circumventing the obligations linked to the transfer of a business, recently denounced the CFE-CGC, the main union, evoking a violent closure.
In particular, the staff at the Amiens customer relations center are, according to the union, particularly anxious, and few of them imagine themselves becoming simple telephone salespeople. In addition, store staff for whom Orange Bank was a source of variable part are also impacted, without any compensation being provided, which creates (…) a significant drop in income putting them in a stressful situation, points out the CFE-CGC.
The Orange subsidiary dedicated to financial services has been in deficit since its creation. Last year alone, the financial services activity which oversees Orange Bank suffered a loss of 200 million euros.
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