The vast majority of employees of Interforum, the distribution and broadcasting subsidiary of the Editis group, the second French publishing house acquired just a year ago by the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, presented a call for an indefinite strike, initiated by FO on Monday, September 30 . . And so, from Monday to dawn, the palettes of the new books by Michel Bussi, The Dawn Killers (Presses de la Cité, 408 p., 22.90 euros), and Riad Sattouf, I, Fadi, the stolen brother. (Books of the future, 152 p., 23 euros) They remain on storage pallets at the Tigery warehouse (Essonne).
Heavyweights, from the last work of Michel Bussi, My heart has been moved, had sold more than 80,000 copies, while Riad Sattouf’s last comic had a circulation of 360,000 copies.
In the middle of the literary season, the delivery of these best sellers at their point of sale is blocked until further notice and bookstores do not make deliveries. In addition, nearly one million copies of works of all kinds have not yet been distributed, the publication of which is scheduled for the week of October 7. For Isabelle Menil, FO central union delegate at Interforum, “For months we have been alerting management in vain about the deterioration of working conditions and the lack of recognition of the work done by Interforum employees.”
Abrupt methods
METROme Menil demands better financial conditions, especially since Interforum is one of the beneficiaries. The unionist complains, like the CGT, about the total absence of dialogue and consultation with Denis Olivennes, president of Editis, and with the group’s director Catherine Lucet. And she describes their rough methods: On Monday morning they sent two bailiffs and discovered that the loading of the trucks had stopped.
METROme Menil accuses management of having hired temporary employees when the strike notice was already presented on Friday, September 27. An illegal process. Editis’ communications department, however, maintains that “The hiring of temporary workers was earlier and corresponds to a peak of activity in October.” Those responsible for the publishing house also ensure that the dialogue “it’s not broken” and that a meeting with FO representatives was to be held on Monday during the day.
In December 2023, a first social movement that materialized in a large demonstration in front of the headquarters (something extremely rare in the quiet publishing sector) had already confronted Interforum employees with Editis management over salary issues.
