• It has now been seven weeks since the strikers of the Vertbaudet brand continue to demonstrate in front of their warehouse in Marquette-lez-Lille, in the North.
  • Accused by the unions of hiring temporary workers to replace the strikers, Vertbaudet had to appear on Tuesday, April 25, before the Lille judicial court.
  • The court issued its decision on Thursday. He does not consider the hiring of temporary workers illegal.

Bad news for the strikers of Vertbaudet. While they are chaining their seventh week of mobilization for a salary increase, in front of their warehouse in Marquette-lez-Lille, in the North, the justice has just ruled in favor of their employer. The latter was accused by the CGT union of hiring temporary workers to replace the strikers. The management of Vertbaudet appeared, Tuesday, April 25, before the court of Lille.

The decision fell on Thursday. According to the interim order, which 20 Minutes had the opportunity to consult, the law "does not generally prohibit any provision of temporary workers during a strike" and considers that "the CGT does not produce any report drawn up by a labour inspector". Indeed, the union presented an "email" that does not constitute real evidence, according to the judge.

Conciliation meeting postponed

In a statement, Vertbaudet "welcomes the fact that the interim relief judge has recognized the arguments of the management and ruled that the company fully complies with French legislation in the context of its use of temporary staff. " When asked, Samuel Meegens, secretary of communication for the local CGT union in Tourcoing, said the union would appeal the decision, presenting new "explosive" elements from the labour inspector. The strike is renewed by the strikers until further notice.



As a reminder, on March 20, a few days after the start of the strike, the local CGT union of Tourcoing had noticed a sudden flow of temporary workers in the warehouse. A labour inspector was therefore asked to check the situation at the logistics site. He had made some observations. Thus, for the period from 27 to 31 March, he stressed, in a report presented to the court by the CGT, that "43 temporary employees were in office before the beginning of the conflict; 84 temporary workers were recruited to replace 82 strikers." During the hearing, in court, Vertbaudet's lawyer had justified these hires by evoking a "temporary increase in activity" that justified the use of temporary work, according to AFP.

In addition, a conciliation meeting between Vertbaudet and the unions should have taken place this Thursday. The management preferred to postpone the meeting to Tuesday, "following the degradation and violence that there was in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday," according to Vertbaudet. According to Samuel Meegens, this meeting was organized at the initiative of the Directorate of Labour. The CGT denies any violence and announces its willingness to file a complaint for defamation.

  • Justice
  • Hauts-de-France
  • North
  • Nord-Pas-de-Calais
  • Lille
  • CGT
  • Strike
  • Trade union
  • Court