The Mulliez family, shareholder of Decathlon, must receive one billion euros paid by the northern brand, specializing in sport, for the year 2024. News which provoked the ire of the CFTC and the CFDT : the unions denounce the discrepancy between this sum and the current working conditions of employees.
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A billion euros. This sum, which would make any worker pale, will be paid on Monday December 2 by the northern group Decathlon to the Mulliez family association (AFM), owner of the food distributor Auchan. The Mulliez family, very influential in the Hauts-de-France region, is one of the three main shareholders of Decathlon, along with the family of Michel Leclercq, former founding president of the brand dedicated to sport, and their employees.
These are therefore one billion euros in dividends which must be paid to the AFM, we learned this Friday, for the year 2024. According to the management of the Decathlon group, this sum corresponds to “to a distribution of reserves accumulated within the company over time by shareholders“. A nevertheless colossal amount, paid to the great dismay of two Decathlon unions, who stepped up to the plate this Friday.
The situation is “unacceptable” describes the CFDT in a publication on Facebook, “even as the workforce decreases drastically in the 330 stores” of the French favorite brand, which recently changed its marketing strategy and closed certain stores deemed unprofitable.
For its part, the CFTC draws the same assessment: “No money for senior negotiations, mutual insurance or NAOs“but on the other hand, “family shareholders take a billion euros in dividends“. The majority of them only receive a minimum wage according to the unions, for whom “dividends must be used to prepare the future of the company, finance structuring investments and ensure its sustainability.“
On the Mulliez and Auchan side, the group announced a large-scale social plan, which involves 2,389 jobs and plans to close around ten stores and three warehouses.
The CFDT is therefore calling on the brand's 20,000 employees to mobilize and go on strike on Saturday December 7, which officially marks the start of the Christmas period for major brands.
Contacted by France 3, the Decathlon group underlines that “cThis distribution is part of balanced management of the company.” “Our solid financial base allows us to transfer part of our reserves to all our shareholders while continuing to invest in strategic growth initiatives for the benefit of our employees, our customers and our partners..”
