2021 Bergams factory strike

Last updated

The 2021 Bergams factory strike is an ongoing strike at a Bergams factory, which produces frozen meals, in Grigny, Essonne. [1] [2] Represented by the General Confederation of Labor - Workers' Force, the workers have been striking since mid-September 2021. [3] [4]

Contents

Background

The city of Grigny has one of the highest poverty rates in France, with the Observatoire des inégalités reporting that around 45% of the city's population lived under the poverty threshold in 2020. [5] A Bergams factory, producing frozen meals for clients such as Air France, Starbucks, and Monoprix, is one of the major economic centres of the city. Around 300 people work at the factory, of which a majority are women and with over 30 different nationalities being represented. [6]

Strike

A new collective bargaining agreement was signed between the workers and the company in late 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in France, which include a number of measures including salary cuts and increased work hours in exchange for a guarantee that workers would keep their jobs. [7] Some workers saw their schedules increase by as much as 7 hours a week and their monthly salaries cut by as much as 25%. 35 workers had refused to accept the offer and quit the factory. However, the agreement proved contentious, with workers claiming they had felt forced to sign the agreement under threat of the company shutting down the factory. As the French government loosened COVID-19 restrictions in 2021, and the number of orders the factory received returned to a more normal level, the workers began arguing for a return to pre-pandemic working conditions and pay. However, the company refused to re-negotiate. [8]

On 13 September, the workers walked off the job, numbering almost 300. The strike had begun. [9]

On 12 October, the striking workers held a protest in front of the prefecture in Évry-Courcouronnes, calling for the company to enter negotiations. [10]

On 29 October, the company threatened to shut down the factory if the strike continued. [11] [12] On 12 November, the Évry commerce tribunal was due to begin considering formal liquidation of the factory. [13] [14] Philippe Rio, the mayor of Grigny, has called for the French government to intervene to prevent a liquidation. [15] On 19 November, the commerce tribunal ruled to liquidate the factory. [16] [17]

Reactions

Europe Ecology – The Greens spoke in support of the strike, saying that "we need to move out of the economic system that reduces labour, health, and the environment into simple variables to be adjusted in global competition between big business." [18] Philippe Poutou, leader of the New Anticapitalist Party, visited the picked line on 6 October to support the strikers. [19]

Related Research Articles

Grigny, Essonne Commune in Île-de-France, France

Grigny is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 21.8 km (13.5 mi) from the center of Paris.

Charles Tillon French metal worker, Communist, and leader of the French Resistance

Charles Joseph Tillon was a French metal worker, Communist, trade union leader, politician and leader of the French Resistance during World War II (1939–45).

Franck Marlin French politician

Franck Marlin was a Member of Parliament of the National Assembly of France. He represented the 2nd constituency of the Essonne département,

Philippe Poutou French politician

Philippe Poutou is a French far-left politician, former trade unionist and car factory worker. He was the New Anticapitalist Party's candidate for the presidential elections of 2012, 2017 and 2022, in which he respectively received 1.15%, 1.09% and 0.76% of the vote.

Georges Stanislas Malif Dinga-Pinto, better known by the stage name Niska, is a French rapper from Évry, Essonne. He is signed to Universal Music France and Barclay Records. He was initially in the rap group Negro Deep before going solo. Niska is a derivative of his nickname Stany in reverse (Nista), replacing the "t" with a "k". Niska has released four albums, Charo Life (2015), Zifukoro (2016), Commando (2017) and Mr Sal (2019), with the first two reaching number 3 on SNEP, the official French Albums chart and the third and fourth topping the French chart.

Safran Electronics & Defense, formerly known as Sagem Défense Sécurité, is a French company specializing in optronics, avionics and electronic systems, as well as software for civil and military applications in the naval, aeronautical and space sectors. It is one of the ten entities that make up the Safran Group.

Laure Darcos French politician

Laure Darcos is a French politician of Soyons Libres (SL) who has been a member of the Senate since the 2017 elections, representing Essonne.

2019–2020 French pension reform strike

A strike began on 5 December to protest against broad changes to France's pension system proposed by President Emmanuel Macron. Reforming the pensions was one of President Macron's promises and there are three primary proposals of the pension reform plan. The first is to create a universal state retirement plan, which would replace the 42 individual retirement plans that exist in France. The second is a "points system", to give a pension in proportion to the contributions paid. The third is to "improve the pensions of the most disadvantaged." The result of the system would increase the retirement age of many jobs in France.

Jean-Pierre Bechter French politician

Jean-Pierre Bechter is a French politician and sub-prefect.

Maud Olivier French politician

Maud Olivier is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party, she was a Deputy for the Essonne's 5th constituency, General Councillor for the Canton of Les Ulis and Mayor of Les Ulis.

Robin Reda French politician

Robin Reda is a French politician who has represented the 7th constituency of Essonne in the National Assembly since 2017. A member of The Republicans (LR), he previously served as Mayor of Juvisy-sur-Orge from 2014 to 2017.

The 2021 French labor protests were a series of protests and strikes organised by the General Confederation of Labour (France) (CGT), other trade unions, and French citizens dissatisfied with the country's economic and employment conditions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. These were followed by protests against proposed laws that would give greater powers to police.

2022 French legislative election Legislative election to be held in France

Legislative elections in France are scheduled to be held on 12 and 19 June 2022 to elect the 577 members of the 16th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic. The election will take place after the April 2022 presidential election.

Ronot Society, formerly known as Société de Chaudronnerie et de Construction Mécaniques de Saint-Dizier, was a French foundry established in 1905 by Ernest Ronot. It was legally renamed Société Ernest Ronot in 1918. The business used the name 'Ronot' from 1938 to 2014. The company began operating as a part of the foundry industry, focusing on industrial and agricultural boiler-making, and expanded its scope of activity over its lifespan. In 2008, Ronot was placed under judicial review and was closed by a judicial liquidation in 2014, leaving a total of 41 workers unemployed.

The 2021 Olymel strike was a strike by meatpackers working for Olymel in Vallée-Jonction, Québec, Canada from April to August 2021.

A number of labour strikes were held throughout 2021.

Philippe Rio French communist politician

Philippe Rio is a French politician, currently serving as mayor of Grigny, Essonne. He is a member of the French Communist Party.

Éva Sas French politician

Éva Sas is a French politician from Europe Ecology – The Greens. She was a Member of Parliament from 2012 to 2017.

Sardine workers strike

The sardine workers' strike was a series of strikes in 1905 and 1924 in Douarnenez and Concarneau in the French province of Brittany initiated by women workers in fish canneries to protest against the hardships of their tasks and to demand wage increases. This strike is considered as an important date of feminist struggles in France. The song titled Penn Sardin, written by Claude Michel and composed by Jean-Pierre Dovilliers celebrated their revolt.

References

  1. ↑ à 19h15, Par Florian Garcia Le 20 septembre 2021 (September 20, 2021). "Grigny : grève contre la baisse des salaires chez le spécialiste de la restauration ultra-fraîche Bergams". leparisien.fr.
  2. ↑ "Agroalimentaire. La révolte des salariés de Bergams". L'Humanité. November 4, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Bergams (Grigny) : grève massive contre un accord de performance collective". September 20, 2021.
  4. ↑ B, Jean-Marc (November 4, 2021). "Prix et profits s'envolent, notre niveau vie s'écrase...Faisons payer les riches !". Club de Mediapart.
  5. ↑ "Essonne. À Grigny, près d'un habitant sur deux vit sous le seuil de pauvreté". actu.fr.
  6. ↑ libertaire, Union communiste (November 17, 2021). "Des patrons voyous et une lutte qui dure et s'intensifie à Bergams". UCL - Union communiste libertaire.
  7. ↑ "Bergams : Un conflit du travail d'origine très macronienne". Politis.fr (in French). 6 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-10-06. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
  8. ↑ "Bergams : " On est passés de 35 à 42 heures, avec moins de salaire "". Politis.fr (in French). 13 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-10-13. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
  9. ↑ "Essonne. À Grigny, les salariés de Bergams sont en grève depuis une semaine, l'usine est à l'arrêt". actu.fr.
  10. ↑ "Essonne. Les salariés grévistes de Bergams manifestent devant les grilles de la préfecture". actu.fr.
  11. ↑ "Essonne : la menace de liquidation judiciaire plane sur le producteur de sandwichs Bergams, après 50 jours de grève". leparisien.fr. November 2, 2021.
  12. ↑ "La liquidation judiciaire de Bergams, après une longue grève, serait un drame social à Grigny" (in French). Archived from the original on 2021-10-29.
  13. ↑ Zerouali, Khedidja (November 11, 2021). "Deux mois de grève à Grigny, l'usine Bergams coule, ses salariés avec". Mediapart.
  14. ↑ ""On va tout perdre" : à Grigny, l'avenir s'assombrit pour les salariés du producteur de sandwichs Bergams". leparisien.fr. November 12, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Essonne : A Grigny, le premier employeur privé risque de fermer". La Semaine de l'île de France. November 9, 2021.
  16. ↑ "A Grigny, l'usine Bergams liquidée sur fond de tensions entre salariés". Le Monde.fr. 19 November 2021.
  17. ↑ "A Grigny, les salariés de Bergams présentent leur usine dernier cri en espérant convaincre les repreneurs". 8 December 2021.
  18. ↑ "Soutien à la grève des salariés de l'usine Bergams à Grigny". October 15, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Essonne. Philippe Poutou est venu soutenir les salariés de Bergams, en grève depuis quatre semaines". actu.fr.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.