“As a woman, as a feminist, you can’t buy things from a rogue boss. I call on all mothers to boycott Vertbaudet until he opens meaningful negotiations.” The new secretary general of the CGT did not skimp on the means to support the employees of the childcare brand, in conflict with their management. Friday, Sophie Binet purely and simply called for a boycott of the specialist in products for babies and children, during a visit to Marquette-lez-Lille (North). Eighty of the 250 employees of the sign have been on strike since March 20, at the initiative of the CGT, to obtain salary increases higher than what management offers them.
The new boss of the CGT considers this conflict “emblematic”. She believes that, faced with rising food prices, “there is no negotiation, or very little, with employers, when profits explode”. Sophie Binet therefore calls for a boycott of the brand, which she considers “extremely profitable”.
Shortly after his departure, “people from outside Vertbaudet decided to invade the premises, violently they forced the entrance doors and with iron bars they broke access windows to the warehouse for the trucks. and broke the front door of employees,” a spokeswoman for the company told AFP. The police intervened to secure the site, which was evacuated at midday and will not resume its activities until Monday, according to her. Six non-striking employees were taken care of by the firefighters, in a state of shock.
According to AFP, an agreement was signed in early March by FO and the CFTC, which together represent 63% of employees. This agreement provides, according to management, for an increase in employee compensation of 6%. But the CGT, for its part, refused to sign the agreement and called for a strike.
Vertbaudet, headquartered in Tourcoing, was taken over in 2021 by Equistone Partners Europe from the investment fund Alpha Private Equity. These events “which follow the arrival of Sophie Binet show that it is inappropriate to blow on the embers”, insisted the management. The latter had already filed a complaint on Tuesday, denouncing violence on the sidelines of the picket line, in particular against non-striking employees.
