At the end of last week, the companions of Emmaüs Grande-Synthe on strike were given a notice to attend the next board meeting. Twenty-one people could lose their business and their roof.
It’s a standoff that turns into the unthinkable… After several weeks of strike, the companions of Emmaüs Grande-Synthe received last Friday a summons to the next board of directors, which should take place on Thursday, September 14 . According to their lawyer, Maître Ioannis Kappopoulos, “through the voice of a bailiff, management summoned them to exclude them from companionship“.
They are obviously very worried, they are told that they will find themselves on the street.
Maître Ioannis Kappopoulos, lawyer for the fellow strikers
The president of the Emmaüs de Grande Synthe association assures us that it is “take stock of their file and remind them of the positioning and rules of companionship“. He says “not knowing“the final decision that the board of directors (composed of two companions, an employee representative and several elected volunteers) will take. According to Jean-Pierre Wexsteen, these summons are “the result of their action, their insults and the illegality of their movement“.
I am not a tyrant and I do not make unilateral decisions, I carry out what the board of directors mandates.
Jean-Pierre Wexsteen, president of the Emmaüs Grande-Synthe association
For his part, the lawyer protests: “we are going to put undocumented immigrants back outside, with all the consequences that this can cause“. He intends to draft a summary judgment to prevent this board meeting from being held.
It all started on August 22: around twenty undocumented companions from Emmaüs Grande-Synthe went on strike. These illegal foreigners denounce unworthy working conditions and the non-respect of their rights regarding their regularization.
They also mention cases of harassment from management. Jean-Pierre Wexsteen, president of the association, denies this: “I have in my possession between 50 and 60 certificates from volunteers who affirm that there was never an ounce of racism towards them nor any humiliation”.
The dialogue between management and fellow strikers is broken. Around twenty people maintain the picket line at the entrance to the Grande-Synthe premises. A few days later, management filed a request before the Dunkirk judicial court to end the blockage. She estimates the shortfall at 20,000 euros per week.
The strikers are supported by companions from the Halte Saint-Jean in Saint-André-lez-Lille, who have also been on strike since July. On September 1, Maître Ioannis Kappopoulos, the lawyer for the fellow strikers, contested this order which he considered “totally illegal“.
The hearing at the Dunkirk judicial court to invalidate or not the basis of the order lifting the blockade should take place on September 21. “We will obviously present ourselves to answer these accusations” says the president of the association.
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