One year after the resounding announcement of a social plan to The voice of the North, the major regional daily of Hauts-de-France, concerns are far from being dissipated. However, the shock was less significant than feared. After seven months of negotiations, the inter-union signed the job protection plan at the end of April. Of the 105 departures announced in 2022 for 660 employees according to management, ultimately around forty journalists and sixteen assistants will have left the title, owned by the Belgian group Rossel, by June 2024. But the malaise continues while a reorganization of the editorial staff will be implemented from Monday, November 6.
First subject of friction: the creation of a dual status for journalists. To compensate for the lack of resources due to the departure plan, management wanted to create an external press agency, but gave up in the face of protests from the unions which made it “a casus belli”, explains Christian Vincent, CFDT delegate. Faced with this blockage, a status of editor has been put in place, which is far from unanimous internally. Unlike their fellow reporters, the sixteen holders of this new position will not be in the field, will not work staggered hours, nor on public holidays and weekends. Working thirty-five hours per week, they will not have RTT.
“They are hired at a lower index than what has been practiced until nowdenounces Mr. Vincent. This is a form of employment blackmail. » “Some of them had been working on fixed-term contracts for several years and were placed on notice at the beginning of October, before being taken back on permanent contracts, but at lower salaries”says a journalist speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Everything remains to be built”
For Stéphanie Zorn, editor-in-chief working alongside Patrick Jankielewicz, there is nothing abnormal about this. “These new sedentary positions do not have the same constraints as reporters. They will be paid 1,800 euros net over thirteen and a half months to manage correspondents’ copies, press releases and news articles., defends the one who is preparing to become, in the first half of 2024, the first female editor-in-chief of the newspaper. However, several employee representatives fear future “drifts” in the event of important news. “Everything remains to be built”tries to reassure Mme Zorn.
Second cause of unease: the reallocation of resources. It is planned to set up an editorial team which will focus on the Lille metropolis. But the teams of several locals fear that this creation will lead to reductions in staff elsewhere. The Roubaix-Tourcoing (North) agency, for example, went from sixteen to eight reporters, and that of Calais from six to three. “We wonder how it will be possible to continue covering local news”deplores an employee. Ten positions of “flying journalists” distributed by zones have emerged, replies the editor-in-chief, in response to concerns.
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