What future for Casino? The question of the absorption of the retail group has been agitating the economic community for several months with, in the center of the arena, a fight of giants between Daniel Kretinsky on the one hand, and the trio Xavier Niel, Mathieu Pigasse and Moez-Alexandre. Zouari. The latter presented on Tuesday “a preliminary expression of interest” for a “reinforcement of own resources” of the distributor in crisis up to 1,100 million euros.
But in parallel with this battle for a lot of money, the concern on the part of the Casino employees is growing. The group employs 200,000 people worldwide, including a large quarter in France, under many brands including Monoprix and Franprix. Especially since, in parallel with the financial negotiations, Casino intends to sell a hundred of its stores to Intermarché (57 by the end of 2023 and another 62 in 3 years). A shift that would worry about 4,000 employees.
The union wants answers
All these movements prompted the unions to activate this Monday, unanimously, an economic alert right procedure. This procedure can be initiated when the CSE becomes aware of “facts likely to worryingly affect the economic situation of the company.” The staff representatives can thus ask the employer for explanations.
Specifically, the inter-union “will launch the work and ask a series of questions,” Nathalie Devienne, general secretary of SNTA-FO Casino, the group’s first union organization, specifies to BFM Business. This could lead to the activation of the right to alert in mid-July, according to a source familiar with the matter.
According to the trade unionist, this sale will affect “a great majority of supermarkets and some hypermarkets.” “The transfer of contracts is likely to be done very quickly, probably at the start of the school year,” adds Nathalie Devienne, hence the unions’ desire to sound the alarm. According to our information, the inter-union turned to the Legrand group to help them work on this sale.
Concern about the fate of certain warehouses
What worries elected officials is the vagueness that currently reigns at the employee level. “It’s not for lack of alerting management to the commercial and industrial side of the group,” a union source told us. “The management takes refuge in the argument that Casino is a listed company in order not to reveal information”, Nathalie Devienne abounds.
It is true that Jean-Charles Naouri, the CEO of Casino, sent a letter to the group’s employees on Monday. As part of the group’s takeover, he evokes the clue of the entry of “one or more new investors.” He also affirms that the historic headquarters of the Casino will not leave the city of Saint-Etienne and assures that he is “very attentive […] enough to maintain the 50,000 jobs in France”.
It is not enough for the unions which have therefore decided to step forward. “We don’t want to wait for the situation to deteriorate further,” sums up a union source. According to her, the unions have requested precise information about the figures: “Where did the money from the alienations go? What investments are planned in the stores that remain under the banner of the Casino? And the wineries?”
“What also scares us is collateral damage, especially for our warehouses that are at risk of losing flow. For these employees, there will probably be no transfer, rather a PSE perhaps, but we don’t know yet where we are going”, completes Nathalie Devienne.
Preserve the human in battle.
Hitting a wall on the management side, the unions have also decided to turn to the government. With the help of Force Ouvrière’s secretary general, Frédéric Souillot, they arranged a meeting in Bercy. “The appointment is registered, now we are waiting for the date”, specifies Nathalie Devienne.
Another key date: a group commission will take place on June 28. The unions told Jean-Charles Naouri that “they don’t want this committee to look like the previous ones.” In other words, we will have to provide answers to your questions. Knowing that the elected staff are well aware that these transfers, along with the takeover bids and the debt settlement procedure, are necessary.
Now it remains to preserve the human in battle. “We understood that we were not the owners of the company. Our concerns are simple,” recalls Nathalie Devienne. “First, supporting our co-workers who will be leaving for Intermarché this year. And then supporting those who will transfer for years to come.”
Source: BFM TV
