In the northern districts, the employees of the fast-food of the “Saint-Barth” play big, this Thursday, to the court.
On 7 August in Marseille, Kamel Guemari, delegated trade union FO at Mcdonalds Saint-Barthélémy, is entrenched in his restaurant, doused in gasoline and threatened to immolate himself by the fire. The drama will ultimately not take place, but the image has become a symbol of the fight that lead employees to save their fast-food.
first “threatened” to be transformed into a canteen “halal asian”, it is now in the process of being sold to a franchisee in which they cast doubt on the probity. On Thursday 18 October, an important step in their struggle is played out in front of the tribunal de grande instance (TGI) of Marseille.
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The story is not simple. Saint-Barthelemy is in fact one of the six Mcdonalds of the Bouches-du-Rhône, of which the franchisee Jean-Pierre Brochiero wished to get rid of, in the beginning of the year. He has been the owner since 2015, through holdings that it owns 50/50 with the house French mother.
In may, Mohamed Abassi, well-anchored in the region, with already eight establishments in his wallet, agrees to take back the sites of Blancarde, Grand Littoral, Saint-Victoret, Vitrolles and Plan-of-Campaign. But not that of Saint-Bartholomew, he considers “in the financial hemorrhage for too long:” He has lost 3.3 million euros since 2009″, it argues. Employees learn that they are promised to Hali Food & Co, and that their business will change completely : finish the Big Mac, place the food “halal asian”.
For them, no doubt about it : the transfer is questionable. Instigated by Mohamed Abassi, with the agreement of Mcdonald’s France and Jean-Pierre Brochiero, it would be for the sole purpose of running the business. “At the end of three months, Hali Food can only break the figure, the public authorities pay for the broken pots, and everyone washes their hands,” sums up Me Ralph Blindauer, the lawyer for the employees, a figure of the bar who defended the “Conti” or the Jean Caby. Buyer and sellers do not have the same version.
“passing of the employers ‘”
This Thursday, the TGI should examine the validity of the whole of the six assignments, one to Hali Food, and the other five to Mohamed Abassi. The employees are hoping that will happen again the scenario from the beginning of September : the tribunal, that they had seized in the interim, had endorsed the sale of the five restaurants doomed to remain under franchise Mcdonalds, but not that of Saint-Barthelemy, on the ground of “manifest insufficiency and coarse elements of human, material and financial to the buyer”.
The court ruling also showed a “transaction manifestly and grossly intended to achieve a passing off of employers to be characteristic of a disorder that is clearly illegal.”
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Hali Food & Co is a company surprising, “a phantom company with a nominee, behind which hides Mohamed Abassi, denounces Me Ralph Blindauer. A company established in Tunisia two months before the information-consultation on the sale of the enterprise committee. By who ? A certain Mr. Boulkhout, famous unknown living in Tunisia with a passport algerian, not speaking French. It has been presented as to invest 500 000 euros on his personal funds, but says only that 8000 euros of annual revenues ! We have filed a complaint for fraud.”
Why Mohamed Abassi would it be used to create an entity opaque in order to redeem the Mcdonald’s Saint-Barthélémy? “As long as he wanted the other five restaurants, but not in St. Barth’s, McDo France, and Jean-Pierre Brochiero had to tell him that he needed to find a solution to run the business”, accuses Me Blindauer, who, he said, will bring physical evidence before the tribunal.
“This is a party risked”
Mohamed Abassi denounces without surprise “counter-truths and fantasies” and cries of defamation. A few weeks ago, he finally made a takeover offer from Saint-Barthélémy Jean-Pierre Brochiero. He now plans to resume the site, provided that you can remove the four executive positions. “With this economy of 400 000 euros per year on the payroll, I think you can put the restaurant on the rails within two or three years,” he says. It is a risky bet, especially as the other five sites that I redeemed are not in excellent financial health, everything is to rehabilitate, to put to the new standards. The employees of my other restaurants are going to have to sit on their participation, because of these investments. On average, 700 euros per year for people who earn 800 euro a month, this is not nothing.”
The employees of Mcdonald’s Saint-Barthélémy would be reduced under the flag of Abassi. But the conditions of the offer to purchase, as they are seen present in detail to the prefecture, on September 19, does not satisfy. “We do not deny that redeems it, but not without putting in place a backup plan of employment,” explains Christophe Lomonaco, staff delegate CFE-CGC. It currently has two or three persons of 57 years old who could make an early departure. As if by chance, some of the people he wants to see from, are the trade unionists, and particularly Kamel Guemari”.
Kamel Guemari, the agitator, large-mouth going for it, willing to do anything to defend his Mcdonalds. For employees, there is no doubt : it is him, particularly, that is, in the collimator.
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“a Lot of people talk to me about Kamel Guémari. Let us put things in their place, it is a about 900 employees, says Mohamed Abassi. If I want to remove the framing to keep only a supervisor, as in my other restaurants, it is because it allows substantial savings. The choice is simple : four executives sacked or 30 to 40 people paid less. I prefer to touch people with more opportunities to bounce back.”
“A role of shock absorber and of social integration”
The employees are convinced that the financial difficulties of the restaurant can be resolved without breaking social. They put the losses on the account of the work of the by-pass L2. “The traffic is down to 50 000 cars per day, it goes back up to 100 000, provides for Christophe Lomonaco, a trade union delegate CFE-CGC. This is going to get better.”
but also to the poor management of the business by their former boss. What Jean-Pierre Brochiero question : “The difficulties of this restaurant dating from before him,” said Denis Chamla, his lawyer. This Mcdonalds is located in an area very poor. When people are poor, they make trade-offs that are not necessarily going to the restaurant, even if it is a McDonald’s. This is the sad reality.”
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The “Saint-Barth” don’t want to leave any jobs on the tile, but did not lose their social rights. So far, the six restaurants of Jean-Pierre Brochiero formed the economic and social Union (UES) Wall. As soon as a year of seniority, the employee was entitled to a thirteenth month. In the SIU of the restaurants of the potential buyers, it takes two years. “Suffice to say that with the turn-over and an average job tenure of 18 months, it is never granted”, decrypts Christophe Lomonaco.
The operation resistance of the Mcdonalds of Saint-Barthélémy is a local echo. It is a place of rallying, but also a social issue. It is the second largest private employer in the Northern districts behind the Carrefour hypermarket.
“It plays a role of shock absorber and of social integration where there are no prospects,” says Salim Grasbi, president of the Union of the popular districts of Marseille. How many young people, some of them with electronic bracelets, have been reintegrated on the labour market thanks to him ? Awarded the foot in the stirrup, and, logically, became bus drivers, nurses, plumbers, electricians ? Without him, they would have fallen to the dark side.” Mohamed Abassi will continue to grant them this chance ?
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Monday, all the employees of the Mcdonald’s Saint-Barth have received a letter indicating that the offer of Mohamed Abassi ran until 26 October. In case of refusal, the site will be closed and the entire staff dismissed.