• Eight employees, elected CGT, of Castorama had undertaken to sleep in several stores of the brand to demand wage increases.
  • After a night in the store near Strasbourg, they were evacuated from the one in Colmar on Wednesday evening.
  • The management ensures its desire for "social dialogue". For their part, the elected CGT indicate to 20 Minutes that "the fight is not over". "We will now see what actions we can take and it will be of the same level or even above. But we will not give up. »

They will not spend their night in all the Castorama of France. Eight elected representatives of the CGT of the sign left the store of Colmar (Haut-Rhin) Wednesday evening. However, they had the objective of sleeping there, as at Mundolsheim (Bas-Rhin) the day before, in order to demand wage increases.

"But at 20:30 p.m., as we were settling in, we saw a judicial officer arrive with a little smirk," says Xavier Gaspard, union delegate in Strasbourg. He explained to us that we had to leave the premises under penalty of a fine of 1,000 euros per person and per offence. We called our lawyer who told us to leave. »

€200 increase requested

The end of the evening and the night took place at the hotel for the protesters. With a note settled by the management, according to the elements it sent to 20 Minutes. "Occupying a shop at night is an illegal action that poses risks to the safety of people and property. Last night [Wednesday], the employees concerned left the Colmar store peacefully, after being informed of a court decision ordering them to leave the premises. They then returned to their hotel rooms, booked by the management so that they would have a place to sleep," she wrote, insisting on her desire to iron out the situation. "At Castorama, we are fundamentally committed to social dialogue and the night occupation of a store is neither a means nor the place."

A vision that does not share the eight elected. "There has been zero social dialogue," retorts Xavier Gaspard. "A few minutes before our evacuation, I had human resources on the phone who just offered me an appointment to talk, not to negotiate," says Nicolas Euzenot, CGT central union delegate within the company.

The two elected officials, like those who were still present Thursday morning before returning to their respective stores, insist: "the fight is not over". "We will now see what actions we can take and it will be of the same level or even above. But we will not give up. With, always, this desire to obtain "an increase of 200 euros net for all employees while we had 37 euros at the last mandatory annual negotiations [NAO]. »

Battle of numbers

For its part, Castorama claims "15 months' salary" paid in 2022 to its employees. "As part of the NAO that ended on December 13, 2022, a series of measures for 2023 were granted, including a revaluation of the salary scale in March 2023 which will allow an evolution of +7.3% between March 2022 and March 2023, a minimum general increase of 70 euros applied in August 2022 and March 2023 as well as individual increases applicable in May 2023. These measures complement the revaluations and increases made in 2022," the management wrote.


These figures, the eight elected CGT, the second union within the brand, dispute them. "Every year, our increases are below inflation, it's not normal. And we have seen it in stores, employees support us," concludes Xavier Gaspard.

  • Economy
  • Employment
  • Social
  • CGT
  • Colmar
  • Grand East
  • Strasbourg