Lucien Georgelin: “We have to pack our things this evening”, the hasty departure of employees from the cereal factory in Villeneuve-sur-Lot

This is the last time she passes through this gate of the La Barbière industrial zone. Isabelle cannot contain her tears. For 31 years she has been going daily to this vast building which borders the RN21. “I returned there at the age of 22,” breathes the fifty-year-old. The third owner of this factory will be the last. Lucien Georgelin is preparing to repatriate the activity of his “cereals” branch to the parent company in Virazeil. The end of the legal recovery for the Lot-et-Garonnais jam maker is not without social consequences, since Villeneuvois employees refuse their transfer to Marmandais.

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Lucien Georgelin: “He abandons the employees of Villeneuve-sur-Lot”, the disenchantment of the workers at the cereal factory

Things had been clear in their heads since the start of the storm, but the workers in the “cereals” branch saw things suddenly speed up. Union officials estimated that the deadline for the move would arrive at the beginning of 2025. “You prepare yourself for a date, and then it happens overnight,” squeaks Serge Yakan, staff representative at the Villeneuve site. He received a visit from one of Lucien Georgelin's directors on Thursday, telling him that the premises had to be vacated… this Friday. “We have to pack our things this evening,” sigh the Villeneuvois.

“He didn’t even say hello to us in court”

The employees do not hide their disappointment at seeing the “wall” arrive so quickly. “It’s a lack of respect, one more” laments, in chorus, the fifteen employees, invited “to stay at home” from Monday, December 2. The staff representative even assures that the big boss wanted to warn them “only on Friday”. The machines, the production tool, will be transported to Virazeil next week. “But the know-how remains here” proclaims Isabelle. Within a fortnight, they will all receive a contract notification asking them whether or not they also want to be transferred to the company's headquarters. “We will still have our salary until then, but we will be exempt from working.” The next step is economic dismissal.

All the people of Villeneuvois, a good number of whom have between two and three decades of activity on the site, do not hide their bitterness towards the attitude of the jam maker. As they told us several weeks ago, in the same place, it has been almost a year since they had any contact with the company manager. The culmination of this non-dialogue occurred at the Agen court, very recently. “We were there, we wanted to ask him. He didn’t even say hello to us,” say the employees on the banks of the Lot. “While we were threatened if we didn’t greet him at the time,” adds Serge Yakan. “We wanted it to happen between civilized people, to be treated like human beings. Even his sheep are treated better” he loses his temper.

The words are harsh towards the one who took over the site in 2017. “If respect followed, if he had come to tell us things…” we murmur in the ranks. Close to retirement or not, they will start looking for a new job, not wanting to travel 150 km daily, between their home and their work, or even to continue working for the Virazeil jam maker. “We realize it without realizing it,” sobs an employee. A last look towards the large parking lot, leaving behind years of work “in a company that was loved” they say. The end of the Georgelin adventure in Villeneuve has a bitter taste.