“It’s quiet here, we sleep well. I even take a nap in the garden.” A sleeping bag lying on the bed, a bag of sweets, shower gel and some clothes in the wardrobe. Marouane Baudron, 20, is not the type to be burdened. And yet, there is no shortage of space in this boarding room usually designed for four people. It’s only been a few days since the students of the Henri Avril high school in Lamballe (Côtes d’Armer) deserted the premises. Since July 6, like Marouane, they have been succeeded by seasonal workers from Cooperl, the farmers’ cooperative of the Great West.
An unprecedented experiment launched by the Brittany Region. According to Pôle emploi, 50,000 seasonal jobs would be available this summer in Brittany, but applications are sometimes rare, applicants not knowing where to stay, especially on the coast. The Region has therefore decided to make the boarding schools of its unoccupied high schools available to municipalities or communities of municipalities in order to accommodate seasonal workers. A hundred people could benefit from it not only in Lamballe but also in Dinard (Ille-et-Vilaine).
The question of accommodation is central
The Region first had to diagnose the vacant assets and then made sure to make it operational. “As a boarding school is not intended to house employees, there have been administrative and legal issues to settle,” underlines Fanny Chappé, regional councilor in charge of housing. The Region, the intercommunality, the high school and the Cooperl have signed an agreement in order to set the conditions of occupation and the financial contribution of each stakeholder. The objective is to cover the operating costs of the premises (fluids, maintenance, monitoring). “We recruit 150 seasonal workers in the summer,” says Mathieu Pecqueur, delegate for external relations at Cooperl. The question of accommodation is central during this period but also the rest of the year”.
Assigned to meat packaging, Marouane is delighted to have won this opportunity. “Having a job and housing at the same time is rare,” he says. Especially since the factory is not very far, just 3.5 km by bike. Without a permit like many other young people, he had the bitter experience in the past of the problem of mobility in the world of work. To settle in this room and access the shared spaces (living room, cafeteria, toilets), the workers of the Cooperl pay 10 euros per day, an amount deducted from their salary. They also have to agree to a few rules: no alcohol, no smoking inside and no guests. Ewen Coulibaly, 19, was looking for a summer job. He had sent resumes for diving near Saint-Cast, a seaside resort in Côtes-d’Armor. “Finding accommodation there is complicated and expensive. My only lead was camping,” he explains. So when a friend told him about this opportunity with the Cooperl, he didn’t hesitate.
50 kilometers away, the town of Dinard (Ille-et-Vilaine) also wanted to help hotel and restaurant professionals who are struggling to hire. Twenty rooms will be available this weekend at the boarding school of the Yvon-Bourges hotel school. If the experiment proves conclusive, it could be extended to other establishments next year.