Workers at French supermarket giant call December strike
Five unions representing workers at one of France's biggest supermarkets groups have called for a strike - starting on Tuesday and potentially lasting until December 31st - in protest against possible store closures and layoffs.
As a result, it is possible that some shops in the Casino group could be closed or short-staffed in the days and weeks ahead.
There will also be a demonstration on Tuesday morning in Saint-Étienne, the historic headquarters of Casino, which was founded in 1898.
Casino - which also owns Monoprix and Franprix - had 200,000 employees across the world as of 2022, with 50,000 of those workers based in France.
What is the problem?
The Casino retail group is heavily in debt and reportedly preparing to sell at least 60 large supermarkets (hypermarchés) and 260 smaller supermarkets.
The group already opted to sell 119 stores to rival, Intermarché, several months ago, but as of December the financial situation remained dire.
At the end of July, Casino reached agreement with creditors to restructure its debt, as well as a change in shareholder structure starting in the first quarter of 2024.
Workers fear that if Casino stores are sold to competitors, there may be job losses and deteriorated work conditions than they previously had while working for Casino.
Head of the inter-union group, Nathalie Devienne explained to Le Parisien that selling off shops could also "have serious consequences for the other subsidiaries, logistics and head offices".
BFMTV reported that so far, competitors Auchan and Intermarché have submitted bids for all the shops. Other bids have also been submitted, but have not been officially confirmed.
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As a result, it is possible that some shops in the Casino group could be closed or short-staffed in the days and weeks ahead.
There will also be a demonstration on Tuesday morning in Saint-Étienne, the historic headquarters of Casino, which was founded in 1898.
Casino - which also owns Monoprix and Franprix - had 200,000 employees across the world as of 2022, with 50,000 of those workers based in France.
What is the problem?
The Casino retail group is heavily in debt and reportedly preparing to sell at least 60 large supermarkets (hypermarchés) and 260 smaller supermarkets.
The group already opted to sell 119 stores to rival, Intermarché, several months ago, but as of December the financial situation remained dire.
At the end of July, Casino reached agreement with creditors to restructure its debt, as well as a change in shareholder structure starting in the first quarter of 2024.
Workers fear that if Casino stores are sold to competitors, there may be job losses and deteriorated work conditions than they previously had while working for Casino.
Head of the inter-union group, Nathalie Devienne explained to Le Parisien that selling off shops could also "have serious consequences for the other subsidiaries, logistics and head offices".
BFMTV reported that so far, competitors Auchan and Intermarché have submitted bids for all the shops. Other bids have also been submitted, but have not been officially confirmed.
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