Insults and bird names: this is what employees of Auchan and Leroy Merlin receive from certain customers, according to staff representatives. They are accused of staying in Russia.
Insults and bird names: this is what employees of Auchan, Leroy Merlin or Decathlon suffer from certain customers, according to staff representatives, as tensions begin to arise in the signs of the Mulliez galaxy still active in Russia.
“I hope your children will die under the bombs”: a customer launched this sentence to a seller of Leroy Merlin, a DIY specialist, assures Bernard Vigourous, central FO delegate.
On BFMTV, Jean-Marc Cicuto, CFTC Leroy Merlin delegate, Adeo group, declares that the brand’s employees are accused of having “blood on their hands” and of being “baby killers”.
“The employees who receive these insults are in a state of shock. It is out of the question that we suffer this. We want the management to give instructions”, abounds Bernard Vigourous.
The band did not immediately comment. A knowledgeable source of Leroy Merlin, who “has no factual elements” on the subject, nevertheless believes that it is “atypical behavior” as “there is all the time”.
Unions opposed to closure
Auchan, much criticized for having chosen to stay in Russia, Gilles Martin (CFDT) reassures both on the absence of “uncontrollable” elements and on the existence of an employee-customer front in the store. “I was told only one very anecdotal incident. It’s very localized,” he said.
Management, which issued a statement on Sunday to justify its position, refuses to comment further. A source close to the group relativizes the phenomenon to AFP, and judges “dangerous to give importance to something marginal”.
As for the closure, the group and the unions are opposed to it.
“We are a trade union organization. We think of the employees”, explains Jean-Marc Cicuto.
“Tens of thousands of employees work in Russia, mainly women. What are the consequences for them? Putin will not be deprived of anything. Those who will toast are the workers!”, Estimates Amar Lagha, secretary general of the CGT Commerce and companies federation. who supports the choice to stay in Russia.
Penalty fears
The unions also believe that the closure exposes foreign groups to sanctions if they close. They might be nationalized and their activity, as well as their stocks, will be taken over by Russian or Chinese companies.
We must “stay calm to know how to explain our position and maintain great internal solidarity”, said Philippe Zimmermann, the general manager of the DIY brand, in an internal video message.
An intervention which took place following a position taken by Ukrainian employees of the brand. During the week, they called on the brands of the Mulliez family association (AFM) present in Russia, asking them to cease their activities there.
Russia represents 10% of Auchan’s sales and 18% of those of Leroy Marlin which, unlike Decathlon, are supplied in Russia, respectively at 90% and 50%.
