They put all the rage of their despair in their banners addressed to their boss, Alexis Mulliez, whose family which also owns among others Decathlon, Auchan or Boulanger is ranked 5th fortune in France.
The vast majority of employees including executives from Alinéa, this furniture store in receivership, went on strike this Saturday on the Pontault-Combault site, which caused the store to close.
The Villeparisis site was also closed with around thirty employees who stopped work. The three stores in the department, in Pontault-Combault, Cesson and Villeparisis, will close by September, resulting in the dismissal of 130 people.
Yellow vests, pension reform, Covid-19
“It’s normal that they defend themselves,” say customers who find the doors closed surrounded by slogans such as “Mulliez, look at your Rolex, it’s time for revolt” or “You brew billions and you are stingy ”.
Alinéa, who first placed himself in a situation of insolvency, explains that he did not support the yellow vests movement in quick succession at the end of 2018, then the demonstrations against the pension reform at the end of 2019 and finally the Covid-19 . The health crisis caused by the new coronavirus forced the brand to cease its activity for almost two months.
The Marseille commercial court (Bouches-du-Rhône) postponed to August 31 the date of its judgment concerning a possible buyer, including Alexis Mulliez himself. “He wants to take over nine out of twenty-seven stores, but none in Seine-et-Marne. But his offer was deemed too low, assures Ingrid Seillery, CGT delegate of Alinéa in Seine-et-Marne. Our boss is taking advantage of the ordinance of May 20, which allows an executive to take over his own company, by making the company pay the debt by the community and the compensation of employees via the wage guarantee scheme ”.
Without any illusions about their imminent fate, the employees, after receiving the support of the mayor of the town Gilles Bord (PS), mobilized to demand severance payments above the legal minimum. “I’ve been here for thirteen years and we’re thrown out like that, like interns, without any recognition,” sighs a forty-something, who, given the economic context, does not think of finding work quickly.
“We are offered to become a butcher or fishmonger”
“We have children to feed loans to pay, sighs his colleague who, like most of Alinéa employees, barely earns more than the minimum wage. Given his fortune, Alexis Mulliez can pay us a supplement ”.
