A dozen employees of the U Express supermarket in the Halles Centrales of Le Havre, went on strike this Friday December 2 to denounce poor working conditions which would endanger their safety. Some also accuse part of the management of acts of moral and sexual harassment.
There are about ten employees outside the shop flanked by the trade unionists of the Force Ouvrière, determined to be heard by their management. For years they have been telling of being bullied and morally and sexually harassed by a manager. Juliana is a very young woman who has been silent for a long time, until she can’t take it anymore. “Everyone in the company is aware of what he does, and not just me. Everything sexual, it’s been about two, three years. There I got the click because it was touch and before it was just words“, the employee boldly denounces.
The facts are serious and were revealed by another employee, in vain. The employee was fired for insubordination, after also denouncing deplorable working conditions. “The reserve is blocked, the emergency exit is blocked, the fire hoses are not accessible because there is a lot of goods in front … it is a whole in fact” laments Nicolas Maridort, a fired employee, “the people are fed up and the team is starting to freak out“.
video length: 01min 30
Strike by U express employees in the central halls of Le Havre
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©France3 Bay of the Seine
Working conditions so bad as to endanger the health of employees and customers according to the Force Ouvrière union. “We have already alerted the labor inspectorate which has gone into the field, we could also alert the repression of fraud or the hygiene services which are allowed to come and see the deplorable state of the shop inside. So today, if necessary, we could go as far as criminal proceedings.” explains Matthieu Prevost, general secretary of the Union Locale Force Ouvrière.
The management has made a commitment to the employees to carry out an investigation and to take the necessary measures if necessary. But he didn’t want to answer our requests.
