The general assembly of employees of NextRadioTV, the media subsidiary of the Altice group, which includes BFM-TV and RMC, voted on Thursday, June 25 “Immediate” members of the strike, until Monday 9 am, announced to Agence France-Presse (AFP) members of the company’s intersyndicale.
This takeover did not prevent the holding on BFM-TV and BFM Paris of a debate before the second round of the municipal elections between the three candidates for the Mairie de Paris – Agnès Buzyn (La République en Marche, LRM), Rachida Dati (Les Républicains, LR) and Anne Hidalgo (Socialist Party, PS) -, initially scheduled for Wednesday and postponed because of the social movement.
A twenty-four hour strike had been launched on Wednesday within the group to protest against a savings plan providing the abolition of 330 to 380 positions, up to 30% of the workforce, and a 50% reduction in the number of freelancers and freelancers. The strikers notably demand that there be no forced departure.
«Drahison»
When the intersyndicale called, around two hundred people had demonstrated outside the Paris headquarters of Altice, the group’s parent company, with placards “First on the news, first on the social level” and «Drahison», with reference to the name of the group’s boss, Patrick Drahi.
Uncommon for a strike in the media, the news channel had broadcast images of the demonstration by midday. “Social news, when it concerns us, we also tell you about it”, said journalist Alice Darfeuille.
The intersyndicale had asked, in a leaflet, the three candidates for the Town hall of Paris to cancel their coming on the set for the debate which was to oppose them Wednesday evening on BFM-TV. After having received a delegation of strikers at 3 p.m., Anne Hidalgo had announced that she would give up the debate. His decision had led to the withdrawal of Agnes Buzyn and, therefore, the factual cancellation of the televised debate.
The employees had suspended their strike to resume negotiations Thursday morning with management, before a new general meeting scheduled for the afternoon.
The NextRadioTV group unveiled, on June 17, a vast savings plan to, according to management, deal with the impact of the Covid-19 crisis. The group, which is largely profitable, anticipates, in fact, a collapse of its advertising revenue. NextRadioTV also intends to save on sport, where it has lost prestigious rights and will face increased competition.
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