They were impatiently awaiting this meeting. Since Friday morning, employees of the Limoges Métropole slaughterhouse have been on strike in front of the entrance to demand, among other things, the payment of the increase in slaughter taxes per kilo by customers to “sustain the activity”.
After a first meeting this Monday with management, it was the director and president of Limoges Métropole, Guillaume Guérin, who came to discuss with the fifty strikers. And solutions seem to have been found between the two parties.
“They (management) said yes to all our grievances,” assures Julien Mérigot, FO union delegate. The principal is assured for us, in particular on the payment by customers of this increase in slaughter taxes per kilo. Guillaume Guérin assured us that financial balance would be ensured at the end of the year, this was the priority objective. » A regulation confirmed by Guillaume Guérin, contacted by us this Tuesday afternoon: “All companies have paid the tax increase from January 1 to today. There is no doubt about their commitment to us. We are in the process of recovering the funds from this increase. »
Agreement reached on the payment of customer invoices
After “constructive discussions and a renewed dialogue” with the trade union organizations, according to the president of Limoges Métropole, this commitment made on the part of the slaughterers to finally pay their invoices, “should make it possible to give some breathing space to the finances and to respect the commitments made jointly between management and employees,” continues Julien Mérigot.
“I was very clear this morning (Tuesday), paying these taxes will not solve all the problems,” warns Guillaume Guérin. Discussions on the annualization of working time have also advanced. We have agreed to the opening of stable negotiations on the working time annuity, which should also clarify the vagueness that needs to be resolved around overtime.”
Regarding this subject, a new meeting is planned in the next fortnight, according to the unions.
The director of the slaughterhouse adds: “We have made a commitment not to see any of the 75 employees unemployed. We are studying the reinternalization of the guard post for the start of 2025. Today, let us be clear, given the tonnage per year used at the slaughterhouse, keeping 75 posts as they are would be utopian. There will be around ten positions affected by restructuring.”
In this sensitive issue for the region, Julien Mérigot and the employees say they are “relieved” but are following the progress of the coming months “very closely”. The strike picket was lifted early in the afternoon on Tuesday, June 25, and employees will return to work this Wednesday morning.
The slaughterhouse, a political subject?
In a press release published this Tuesday at midday, the outgoing deputies, Damien Maudet and Manon Meunier, called for a rally this Wednesday, June 26 at 7 a.m., with elected officials from the territory gathered under the banner of the New Popular Front, in front of the Limoges slaughterhouse, in order to support the unions on strike. A gathering which should be canceled after the discussions started this Tuesday with management and the lifting of the strike picket. A gathering that makes Guillaume Guérin jump: “This political recovery is scandalous and shameful. The ultra-left loves the poor so much that it creates them. »
Thibaut Dailler with Sébastien Dubois
