“Jean-Charles Naouri is accountable to employees”, believes Renaissance MP Quentin Bataillon

The elected representative of Renaissance de la Loire is alongside Casino employees who are demonstrating in Saint-Etienne.

The CEO of Casino, “Jean-Charles Naouri, is accountable to employees”, estimated Tuesday December 5 on franceinfo Quentin Bataillon, Renaissance deputy for the Loire. The local elected official is this Tuesday alongside the group’s employees who are demonstrating in Saint-Étienne to save their jobs. They are called to strike from this Tuesday while the group is in great financial difficulty. The notice period runs until December 31.

“Today, employees realize that they were indeed lied to. Jean-Charles Naouri really has to answer. The banks should also have sounded the alarm a long time ago as the unions did “, explained Quentin Bataillon. The group is placed in accelerated safeguard procedure by the Paris commercial court. Heavily indebted, Casino is preparing to sell, as a matter of urgency, its approximately 60 hypermarkets and 260 directly owned supermarkets. Intermarché has already concluded the purchase of 119 stores with Casino a few months ago. According to information from franceinfo, only one global takeover offer has been formulated for the moment, by a consortium associating Auchan and Intermarché.

“Nothing will be done without the opinion of the government”

The group’s headquarters in Saint-Étienne could have difficulty surviving a piecemeal sale. According to Quentin Bataillon, the commercial court “must also have extremely strong demands on jobs and the future of the head office in Saint-Étienne”. The deputy recalled the commitment of Bruno Le Maire. “Nothing will be done without the opinion of the government and Bercy. Indeed, the demands on jobs, on the head office, on the economic future of the group are really at the heart of our priorities. And for me, it is really all my commitment”he insisted.

Casino in Saint-Étienne, “It’s a lot of jobs, but it’s also our pride, this site is the influence of the city and its know-how, exceptional staff who have been committed through several generations, for 125 years”he explained.