Fin de grève chez Vertbaudet après plus de deux mois de mobilisation tendue

“Our fight has been worthwhile.” The 72 strikers from the Vertbaudet childcare products store, who went on strike on March 20 at the Marquette-lez-Lille warehouse (Nord), signed an agreement with management on Friday, June 2 after more than two months of tense mobilization. “The management of Vertbaudet announced the conclusion of a strike resolution protocol with the representatives of the company’s CGT [union] workers,” the management said. “It includes the lifting of the strike picket” at midnight, “and the return to work of the 72 strikers on Tuesday.”

“We are very happy, our fight has been worthwhile, financially I will have to tighten my belt a bit these next few months, but it was worth it,” said Anaïs Vanneuville, a striker. “Our return conditions will be discussed on Monday,” with the idea being “that we will return in small groups at different timeslots” to ease tensions with non-striking employees. “No sanctions will be taken against the strikers,” said Amar Lagha, general secretary of the CGT commerce and services.

A salary increase of 90 to 140 euros net per month

The management opened early annual mandatory negotiations (NAO) for 2024, between May 26 and June 1. The agreement provides for “a revision” of the salary scale, as demanded by the strikers. The mobilization allowed “to extract from the shareholders” a “general increase in salaries for the workers/employees of the group ranging from 90 to 140 euros net per month (depending on seniority),” said the Vertbaudet CGT in a statement. The 72 strikers (out of 320 employees) had demanded a 150 euro net increase per month. An amount “vital” for the strikers, mostly women with low qualifications and mostly receiving minimum wage, against a backdrop of high inflation.

Tensions have been rising since the start of the strike. The public prosecutor’s office had opened an investigation into violence reported by a CGT delegate, who had been beaten up and robbed by people purporting to be “plainclothes police officers”, according to the union. Several non-striking employees had also denounced a deleterious atmosphere created by their mobilized colleagues.