On the Galliance duck site in Nueil-les-Aubiers, in northern Deux-Sèvres, activity was already reduced to 40%i.e. two days a week. It goes down to 20% from this Monday, one day a week. Due to a lack of supply due to the avian flu, production is greatly slowed down. A violent crisis. “It’s like a wall in fact while we were moving forward rather in a pattern of serene, fairly constant development”explains Jean-Marc Johannet, general manager of the turkey and duck business unit of the Galliance group.
Partial unemployment and end of mission for temporary workers
Consequence of this crisis: Partial unemployment for the site’s 150 permanent employees. Transfers were sometimes found. “60 employees will switch to the establishment of elaborate products, this will allow them to keep their salary during the period”explains the general manager.
There is more temporary workers. On the various Galliance sites in northern Deux-Sèvres, this represents more than 300 people. And the concern is to be able to find them once the activity restarts. “They don’t have very strong ties to one region rather than another. They could move to find work so we are looking for solutions to give them reasons to stay. We are working on a so-called retraining scheme to allow us to mobilize training”says Jean-Marc Johannet.
Into the unknown
The timetable for ending the crisis remains unknown. The CEO states that “As long as there are cases, we cannot say when we will be able to restart again. We are still currently prohibited from filling our farms again”. A return to normal is potentially planned for the end of the year.
A crisis that also affects beyond Galliance. “For example the transporters who work for us, the cleaning and maintenance companies”. Planned investments in factories are also postponed.