“There, for us, we are treated like an old mop destined to go in the trash. » Serge Yakan a Besson, CGT union representative, is still in shock, just like the fifteen other employees of Lucien Georgelin Cereals. While this Wednesday, November 27, the Agen commercial court took the Villeneuvoise company out of receivership, a few hours later, the union representative received an email, summoning the entire team, the next day at 1:30 p.m. an extraordinary meeting. “That's when we learned that, as of this Friday, everything was over. » A brutal announcement for them who thought they would work in the factory until December 24: “For us, the factory was dismantled at the beginning of January. » It will finally be, from this Monday, December 2, that the tools will be dismantled for the Virazeil site.
The small group, gathered in front of the gate, wanted to express their dismay and anger one last time: “We had no exchange with Lucien Georgelin, even when we met him at the commercial court on Wednesday,” says Serge Yakan in Besson. It was the transition director who came to tell us that we were now exempt from coming to work. »
“Head held high”
For many of them, this last day marks the end of a working life of several decades: “For the moment, we don't realize it. The backlash will happen when we find ourselves at home, without going to work,” says Isabelle Korbel, with tears in her eyes. With thirty-one years of seniority, she is the oldest employee still on the job.
Everyone wanted to finish “with their heads held high”, and to ensure, despite everything, the last delivery: “We worked because we did not want to waste the products. » In the last hour, they picked up their personal belongings, coffee cups, jackets and even photos with their colleagues, left behind over the years. “Before leaving, we wanted to tell people that we loved this company. »