At the Salamandre, a bar-grocery store selling local products on the slopes of the Croix-Rousse, to pay for her groceries, Charlotte takes out of her wallet a series of funny little tickets in bright colors. The boss, Adrien Colas, collects them without flinching. Like Charlotte, there are nearly 1,500 in Lyon who have used the Gonette on a daily basis since 2015. This “local and citizen” currency is accepted by more than 300 partners, food shops, bookstores, cultural institutions, health professionals, solidarity associations, construction craftsmen, etc.
A small financial ecosystem that allows the equivalent of 267,000 euros to circulate between Rhône and Saône, in cash, in the form of banknotes printed in Lyon under the same security conditions (metallic ink, non-reproducible paper, etc.) as banknotes classic bank. And recently in digital.
But in recent months, here are the promoters of the Gonette in turmoil. The object of their worries? The application for membership of the Lyon subsidiary of Veolia, a water supplier to the inhabitants of the Lyon metropolitan area. The approach is rather unexpected. It is indeed the first time in France that a CAC 40 company has come knocking on the door of one of the 82 local currencies in France. “The fear expressed by our members relates to the fact that Veolia is a CAC 40 company which does not necessarily share our values of humanism and ecology, there is a fear that it distorts our project”, summarizes Charlotte Bazire. , spokesperson for La Gonette.
“There is also the fear of a greenwashing approach” notes Jean-Vincent Jehano, co-president of La Gonette, recalling that the local currency charter forbids, for example, to accommodate retail chains or even retailers. companies outside the Lyon metropolitan area. “Would Veolia’s approach be linked to the public water service delegation granted to the company until 2023 and which will then revert to direct management? »Still wonder the defenders of the local currency.
An initiative that comes from employees
Reluctance that the representatives of the Lyon subsidiary of the French multinational are trying to repel. This is how Guillaume Arama, employee of the water distributor, explains that the idea of joining the Gonette came from the grassroots, after the screening of the film “Tomorrow” by Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent and that the employees , sensitized to the cause of local currencies, then convinced their management of the value of the approach.
“It is an initiative of the employees, but the general management considers that it is a good idea” reports Guillaume Arama, detailing the way in which he imagines this partnership. “This would involve paying part of the remuneration of volunteer employees in Gonettes which could then be used to pay water bills, but also to make local purchases. We could also imagine paying our suppliers in Gonettes ”. One way for Veolia to humanize its image, to attract and retain its young employees …
At La Gonette, we recognize that the entry of Veolia among the members would give the development of the Lyon currency a big boost. In order to resolve this dilemma, the Gonette organized a large video debate on March 4 between representatives of Veolia and its members. A debate followed by a vote on the advisability of hosting the water distributor and if so, under what conditions. However, the exercise did not show a clear trend.
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Will the company integrate the Gonette? The final decision will be taken on March 15 by the council of the colleges of the currency and made public the next day. In the meantime, the initiative could well inspire other large companies and institutions in the regions of France. In Lyon already, the Metropolis plans to pay part of the compensation of its elected officials in Gonettes.
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