Following the revelations of the Christian union CNE on a suspicion of fraudulent bankruptcy of the Belgian, Luxembourg and Swiss subsidiaries of the Camaïeu group, relayed by Free, the French, Belgian and Luxembourg staff representatives are mobilizing. In a leaflet published on Tuesday, they mentioned the possibility of trade union actions in the three countries if their demands are not met.
The inter-union directly attacks Joannes Soënen, the majority shareholder and CEO of Camaïeu, who, in an email of March 12 to his finance department, asked that the money from the accounts of the subsidiaries go back to the bank account general. Joannes Soënen refutes these accusations. The man is also a candidate for buyer of part of the Camaïeu France stores, which is bankrupt. “We no longer have any confidence in Joannes Soënen”, write the trade unionists. “Our deep conviction is that he wanted the legal reorganization of the company in France in order to recover his own company at a lower cost and by serving its debt. We are convinced that, from March, everything was organized. […] The objective is simple: to go through bankruptcy and not through a social plan negotiated in the countries concerned, a nice trick at a lower cost for Mr. Soënen. The direct impact for workers is that they will not receive their full compensation. “
The common front demands that “the courts of the three countries open investigations into this organized ‘bankruptcy'” and that “the public authorities mobilize to save as many jobs as possible”. The unions also want the Camaïeu management committee and its current hierarchy “not to be the future buyers of the company” and that “a real restructuring plan negotiated with the unions” be put in place.
If these demands are not met, “we will take union action in all the countries represented”, warns the inter-union.
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