Decathlon, Labeyrie, Maître Coq, La Boulangère… All these brands have gone on strike in recent weeks. And it’s not over. At Sephora and Leroy Merlin, employees are also preparing to mobilize.

Employees in the private sector are demanding a raise in their salaries, which they consider to be too low compared to efforts made since the beginning of the pandemic, and wholly incompatible with their companies’ turnover.

An example among the employees of Leroy Merlin, who was already mobilized last Friday at the invitation of the joint unions CFDT-CFTC-CGT-FO. After negotiations with their bosses, unions got only a 2% increase, less than the increase in inflation (2.6%).

Very few of these employees have been on the bridge since the start of the pandemic. Nicholas Esno, a salesman in the heating division, sees only one solution, and that is to strike:

“Other businesses were closed, we were on the front lines, and it was tough for us and our family. We suffered a lot because of that, and we deserve a fair return.”

‘All the staff are falling apart’

Packing patriotic, half of Leroy Merlin stores follow the movement. In his 25 years at home, Jean-Paul Pereira, a representative of the FO union, has never seen this: “All the employees are cracking, we have never seen that in Leroy-Merlin our warehouses are closed and there are more besides actions carried out in stores by unionized and non-union employees.

Strikes are increasing in the private sector. What does not surprise Perth Sudt, Secretary General of the Interministerial Trade Union CFDT: “They used to be in agreement. Today, if you have strikes, it is because they have not. In addition, employees have to share in losses but when there are profits Everything goes to contribution.”

At Decathlon, shareholders received 350 million euros for the 2020 fiscal year, a record.