The passage in the management of the lease of many Carrefour stores hides a “disguised social plan”, as the CFDT states? Justice is seen on Friday, September 26 on the subject on Friday, a year and a half after the allocation of the distribution giant by the union.
Since the arrival at its head of Alexandre Bompard in 2017, Carrefour has changed its model to exploit more and more stores in franchise and rental management, a franchise variant where the distributor remains the owner of the business.
This allows you to maintain your participation in the commercial market and leave your accounts of deficit stores, while avoiding supporting certain operational costs, such as salaries, covered by an independent merchant.
Therefore, since 2018, 344 supermarkets and hypermarkets have gone to lease management, or more than 27,000 employees, according to the CFDT. Denouncing a “social plan disguised”, the Union attacked Carrefour in March 2024 for abusive practices before the Judicial Court of Evry (Essonne). He claims 23 million euros in compensation for injured employees and the cessation of transfers in management management.
“Heavy social consequences”
At the beginning of the year, the CFDT had asked the same Court, from which the Mass Carrefour headquarters depends, to avoid the passage in 2025 of about forty stores in lease management, waiting for a trial on the merits. But the judge in summary procedures declared himself incompetent at the end of March.
The lease management “is generally used for the expansion” of a company, explained Erwanig Le Roux, accusing Crossroads for using it “backwards.” “In a click of fingers, they get rid of a hypermarket, their employees, their deficit,” avoiding the usual “legal devices” as the protection work plans, “more expensive,” he said.
This model made it possible to save the stores, defended Alexandre Bompard in May, especially invoking a strong competition of Asian platforms such as Shein and Temu. According to a sites count LSA18 Casino stores closed in 2024, as well as 30 Intemché and Tres Auchan, including two hypermarkets.
“Depressed” employees
But for the CFDT, this strategy leads to strong “social consequences that unfortunately the company does not worry itself,” says Erwanig Le Roux. Because if they retain their possession of Carrefour, the employees who have rented in lease not with a period of 15 months during which a social replacement agreement can be negotiated (participation and participation bonds, sixth week of license, etc.) specific for the giant that appears in CAC 40.
In total, according to the CFDT, the loss of remuneration exceeds 2,500 euros per year. This amount combines “hypothesis that never really happens together,” says Jérôme Nanty.
Another reason for the concern for the CFDT, the degradation of working conditions and the decrease in the workforce observed according to it in store management stores. The staff of these stores has evolved at the same rate as in the “integrated stores” or in the rest of the “great distribution,” says Mr. Nanty.
The fact is that at the crossroads of Douai-Flers, located in Flers-en-Screbieux (North) and spent in the administration in March 2024, “the employees are depressed,” says the AFP Estelle Faggiano, CFDT delegate. “We had to open a psychological cell,” added this 43 -year -old box, including 25 in Carrefour. According to her, the store staff recently fell from “285 to 244”.
CFDT’s fight is not the only thorn in the company’s foot. The Carrefour franchisee association (AFC), which claims 260 stores, assigned it at the end of 2023 before the Rennes Commercial Court, denouncing an unbalanced commercial relationship. It is backed by the Ministry of Economy, which recommended that a fine of 200 million euros.
Source: BFM TV
