2023-08-07 06:58:05
The ballet of drivers began early in the afternoon of this Thursday, August 3. At the cash desk of L’Escale, the largest roadside restaurant in France, located in Déols, at the exit of the A20 motorway near Châteauroux (Indre), customers file past, impatient to take a shower or pay their meal tray.
Some take advantage of their break to treat themselves to an aperitif before dinner in a familiar hubbub, which breaks with the loneliness of their daily work. At the counter, everyone is talking only about the closing of the relay for two weeks, from Monday August 7th.
“No one wants to work in the restaurant industry”
A crushing blow for this assembly of front-line workers, already hard hit by restaurant closures during the health crisis. Present since 1995 in this SME which employs 57 people, Franck has a little trouble believing what he is going through: “Usually I take my vacation in July. This year, for the good of the company, it will be in August, like everyone else”says, between two directives passed in the headset to his colleagues, this waiter with a tie carefully tied behind his apron.
Dominique Thomas, boss of L’Escale for 18 years, has resigned himself to decreeing this summer break. ” I do not have a choice. We are missing at least three people in the dining room and as many in the kitchen to replace employees who go on leave. No one wants to work in the restaurant business anymore. Since May, I haven’t received any resumes”deplores, heartbroken, the 65-year-old restaurateur at the head of this SME which generates 4.7 million euros in turnover.
Wages
However, his business is doing well. That evening, L’Escale recorded at 8:30 p.m. more than 450 covers, divided between the truck stop and the traditional restaurant, frequented by holidaymakers and local customers. This is what allows him to offer salaries above the industry average.
« Chere, payroll already accounts for 47% of expenses. A waitress or a dishwasher earns €1,800 net, a cook has a salary of €2,000”he assures, pleading for a reduction in the VAT granted to traditional cuisine restaurants to finance inevitable future increases in remuneration.
Formerly open 24 hours a day
Paradoxically, this decision relieves him of a burden. He didn’t want to relive the stress of last summer. He had been forced to reduce the hours of service and refuse customers. “I have to ensure the physical and mental fitness of our staff. If I hadn’t made this decision, I would have lost my pastry chef.he admits with a smile of spite.
Since the health crisis, the restaurant, known and appreciated for being once open 24 hours a day, has already had to reduce its sails. Now the iron curtain came down at midnight and didn’t come up again until five hours later. Dominique Thomas expects to have to operate other occasional closures, a week at All Saints’ Day and, perhaps, even in February.
Driver leniency
The regulars, just as resigned, welcome the news with indulgence. This has spread like wildfire on social networks. “Catering is like transportation. All companies are short of drivers,” agrees David, 53. This truck driver for 28 years, employed at Olano, one of the leaders in refrigerated transport, has just traveled 800 km from Figeac, in the Lot. The next day, he will return home to the North, to Seclin, five days after his departure and with 2,800 km on the clock.
The evocation of the labor market awakens in this northerner questions that have remained unanswered. “All sectors need staff, but my 18-year-old son cannot find work. He is continually reminded of his lack of experience. »
At the other end of the bar, Laurent Kokel, 61, another regular, had just called to make sure the restaurant was open. “The organization for evening stops is more and more difficult, he acknowledges. Since the Covid, many drivers have equipped themselves to eat in their truck. Me, I don’t really like staying in my cabin or eating at a gas station. »
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