2023-06-12 23:25:17
57 stores by the end of the year, then 62 more over the next three years, for a total of 119. This is the number of Casino hypermarkets or supermarkets that Jean-Charles Naouri’s group, asphyxiated by a abysmal debt, is preparing to sell to the Intermarché brand, third in market share in France. However, this list may change, after its examination by the Competition Authority in particular.
Summoned by the management this Monday morning in the Central Social and Economic Committee (CSEC), the unions expected that the stores sold would be mainly located in the east, west and north of France. The South and the historic area of the group, around Saint-Étienne (Loire), to be spared. “But finally, we find stores sold in all regions of France, a sign that Intermarché has been able to advance its pawns”, squeaks a trade unionist.
Both Marseille and Lyon are ultimately concerned, as are Chalon-sur-Saône (Saône-et-Loire) and even Saint-Étienne. More surprisingly, initially excluded from the scope, some hypermarkets will eventually change hands, such as that of Chasse-sur-Rhône (Isère).
What future for the employees concerned?
Finally, stores which had just been rehabilitated, such as that of Salon-de-Provence, are put up for sale, while others which should have been sold because of the difficulty, finally escape this movement of sale, in Languedoc -Roussillon in particular. “From now on, we will see how these transfers will affect the employees concerned, because the Intermarché brands are less expensive than Casino from a social point of view”, warns Michel Rieux, the central CGT union representative of Distribution Casino France. At Intermarché, social policy depends on each store owner, the brand being a group of independents. In total, 4,000 employees are affected by these disposals.
Anxious to know more about the financial situation of the Casino group, the elected staff also initiated this Monday morning, unanimously, a procedure of “right to economic alert”. An expert was appointed immediately. Two sheets of questions were given to management on Monday. “We have to go through it to trigger a right to alert”, explained to AFP Jean-Luc Farfal, group delegate for the CFDT, concerned about the “debt” of the distributor which is around at least 6 .4 billion euros and is worth to him to have entered at the end of May in a procedure of renegotiation known as conciliation, with its creditors.
This procedure should last between four and five months. Asked about questions from the unions, the management replied that it had made a commitment to them on Monday morning “to preserve employment”, and this all the more so since “from a legal point of view, the operations envisaged would make it possible to guarantee the transfer and continuity of employment contracts, with employees maintaining all the rights attached to them (seniority, remuneration and classification in particular)”. This Monday evening, finally, Rallye, the parent company of Casino, announced the appointment of Franck Hattab as general manager of Rallye, replacing Alexis Ravalais.
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