“We are tired of hearing ultra-positive speeches while we are being crushed from all sides. We are drowning in work, unreplaced sick leave… The atmosphere is not happy. »
For this employee of the Euralis headquarters based in Lescar who wishes to remain anonymous, enough is enough. After two “small” layoff plans of nine people in quick succession at the holding company (out of 130 employees) and at the agricultural division (out of 600 employees) before the summer, a plan of layoffs of more than 80 employees of the seed company Lidea (600 employees) in October, the food sector (Euralis Gastronomie) of the Béarnais cooperative giant announced the closure of its Rougié factory in Dordogne (73 jobs).
Since the start of 2024, bad news has been coming one after the other in the group of 5,000 employees, without communication from management making it possible to know whether the bleeding will continue, nor the solutions envisaged to limit it.
Hemorrhage
“The employees are worried, everyone is wondering if they will be able to be reclassified,” estimates Lionel Duzert, Force Ouvrière representative at the food center, where a CSE meeting was scheduled for this Friday, November 29. “As there had already been a PSE (job protection plan) in 2018 in the food industry and the information is trickling in, the guys today are wondering who will still go through it…”
What also regretted, in other words, the members of the social and economic committee (CSE) of the Holding, in their (unfavorable) opinion given in May before the plan affecting their sector: “The temporal separation of potential reorganizations in each of the poles, added to the mandatory confidentiality clause until our opinion is given, does not allow us to carry out a thorough and calm examination of the project, in particular due to the absence of consultation with the other CSEs of the Group's subsidiaries. We believe that aligning the reorganization plan schedules for the different activities would have made it possible to harmonize the reclassification conditions for all employees, thus reflecting the values of solidarity and cooperation that are dear to us. »
An unpredictable layoff plan, difficult to explain and, consequently, violent”
And the unions recalled that they were demanding “throughout 2023 clear internal communication from Management on the economic state of the Group and its financial results”. “Messages such as “everything is fine” and “we have the confidence of the banks” made this layoff plan unpredictable, difficult to explain and, consequently, violent. »»
General meeting in February
When questioned, the group's management explains that it will not communicate to the press before its general meeting, at the beginning of February 2025.
To its employees threatened by workforce reductions, it recalls the macroeconomic difficulties (cost of energy, war in Ukraine which particularly affects seed companies, etc.) and affirms “its commitment to maintaining a quality and close social dialogue with its staff representatives throughout the procedure” (social plans).
