Abolition of posts at SFR, the refusal of the restructuring plan by the Intersyndicale

On September 21, the court issued its opinion on the elimination of no less than 2,000 positions within SFR’s telecom division. Indeed, since March 2021 and after a previous departure plan initiated in 2016, the group has announced a new social plan. The inter-union refuses this new restructuring measure and has engaged in a legal battle. On 1 September, the CSE Central of the SFR SIU was unable to give an opinion on the elimination of these 2000 jobs. According to him, the plan is based on an unlawful procedure. Consequently, the court was seized by the inter-union SFR. SFR’s employee representatives were successful. In particular, in the face of the lack of economic justification, the non-respect of commitments to employees or the misuse of the procedure of the voluntary redundancy plan.

The elimination of jobs at SFR, the unions’ incomprehension of the economic situation of the company

Lately, within the SFR group, the tension was palpable. Indeed, following the announcement of a new social plan in March 2021, the inter-union opposed. This refusal gave rise to a legal battle to highlight the unfair turn of this measure. For employee representatives, this new job cuts plan is more than questionable for various reasons. Consequently, and in order to protect the interests of employees, the CSE was unable to give an opinion. Thus, on 1 September, employee representatives denounced the lack of economic justification for the plan. As a reminder, trade union duty is an international right. It provides that people have the right to set up trade union organizations. The objective of the unions is to negotiate, defend and accompany the agreements or the employees in front of the hierarchy.

Indeed, for the latter, the company was not affected by the crisis,quite the contrary. If we look at the figures, SFR’s turnover increased by 2.1%. It then reaches 10.8 billion euros in 2020. Another fact, in the first half of 2021, revenue increased by another 3.8%. In addition, its EBITDA, which corresponds to revenues before the subtraction of interest, taxes, provisions and provisions, is also up 3% to reach €4.3 billion in 2020. This indicator makes it possible to highlight the wealth creation of the company without holding various accounting treatments. If an EBITDA is positive, it means that the company is carrying out a profitable economic activity.

At the same time, the employee representatives note the fact that the company would have made savings to the tune of several tens of millions of euros by placing 4500 employees in partial activity during the crisis. Thus, the elimination of posts does not seem legitimate in the face of these positive results.

employees sfr abolition of posts employment office
Unions defend SFR’s wage rights in the face of the elimination of 2,000 jobs

A decision deemed fraudulent and unfair

The unions have also appealed to the Paris Judicial Court regarding the fraudulent nature of the procedure put in place in March 2021. It was taken following competitive reasons and difficulties to use the 5G antennas of the Chinese HUAWEI. They mention the non-respect of the commitments of the management concerning the preservation of the positions over the next two years. Commitments, which were made during the consultations on the strategic directions in October 2020. Therefore, these commitments are in contradiction with the announcement of the abolition of posts.

In this context of job cuts, the CSE also highlights flaws in the voluntary redundancy plan. It would be used in an eroded way. Indeed, the unions recall the need for the guarantee of strict volunteering. It must be done with the maintenance of an equivalent job, without impact on the remuneration or the employment contract. On the other hand, for each non-voluntary employee, the unions are asking for a publication of all positions open to repositioning. This is part of a reclassification plan that has not taken place.

In addition, this decision to abolish posts raises other issues. In particular, one on the subject of health and safety of employees who are not targeted or not voluntary at the outset. Indeed, long before the announcement of job cuts, the unions are raising the already alarming workload of employees. Therefore, this announcement should have been the subject of an analysis of the impacts of this type of restructuring. The aim is to present concrete measures for the future. Finally, in this context, the CSE also faced a lack of transparency on the part of SFR. The inter-union denounces that the ignorance of the Directorate in the face of the request for access to internal documents. An ignorance that goes against the procedure to be followed in this type of procedure.

Faced with these facts and the challenge to the abolition of posts, the Judicial Court of Paris rendered its verdict on 21 September. SFR’s trade unions, which are the F3C, the CFDT and UNSA com, can boast of having won their case. Indeed, the Judicial Court of Paris condemns the Management for its decision of an unfair nature. According to the Tribunal, there is a significant lack of economic justification for the voluntary redundancy plan for 2000 jobs. At the same time, it also calls into question the plan to cut jobs even before employees have been able to express their volunteering. This is against the work done by trade unions to defend the rights of employees.

Sources:

“Nearly 2000 job cuts within SFR: the Intersyndicale refuses once again the restructuring plan and continues the battle on the legal level” Intersyndicale SFR, media alert of 10 September 2021

PLAN TO CUT 2000 JOBS AT SFR: THE JUDICIAL COURT OF PARIS CONDEMNS THE MANAGEMENT, THE INTER-UNION CALLS ON THE DRIEETS” CFDT, Article of 22 September 2021

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