Master Juliette Mascart represents the two emblematic figures of the show Numbers and letters, Bertrand Renard, specialist in numbers since 1975, and Arielle Boulin-Prat, pro of letters present since 1986. They are in conflict with France Télévisions and each party continues to give its point of view. This time it’s in The Parisian and via their lawyer that the two react.
On Tuesday August 23, 2022, France Télévisions responded to the accusations of the two experts after they made it known that their departure Numbers and letters was not due to a contractual disagreement and that in reality it was a little more complex than that. According to them, the group would have demanded a drop in their salary of around 60% and refused to grant them a permanent contract while they have been on fixed-term contracts for 36 years for Arielle, and 47 years for Bertrand. On this fact, France Télévisions responded by press release and specified that everything was perfectly legal: “[Ils] were hired under customary fixed-term contracts, in accordance with Articles L1242-2 and D1242-1 of the Labor Code and the national professional agreement of December 22, 2006 concluded within the television broadcasting branch.“But now their lawyer, in The Parisian, reconsiders this legality. For her, renewing these CDDUs for decades is “perfectly irregular“.”It is impossible to fill a job permanently with this type of contract“, she explains. These contracts must indeed be “used only to meet specific and immediate needs for a specific position“, recalls the daily.
France Télévision does not let it go, responded and even made a clarification on the request for CDI from Arielle Boulin-Prat and Bertrand Renard which is in reality impossible: “The use of these contracts [les CDDU, ndlr] is authorized and practiced by the entire profession. This is due to the fact that the renewal of a program in a schedule is re-examined each year. (…) Mrs. Boulin-Prat and Mr. Renard worked approximately 35 to 40 days per year, grouped into 6 to 8 sessions. They therefore did not collaborate under the conditions of a full-time permanent contract.“
In any case, the old experts Numbers and letters are not entitled to seniority bonuses”neither precariousness bonus nor access to social benefits from France Télévisions“. Their lawyer has indeed made it known that since the cancellation of the filming they have no more income.
let’s remember that Numbers and letters will soon be broadcast twice a week at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, instead of six times. If the identity of Bertrand Renard’s replacement has just been revealed, that of Arielle Boulin-Prat has not been formalized. We know all the same that it is a professor of letters discovered on the educational channel Lumni.