Troubled since the loss of a major contract with the incumbent telecom operator, Orange’s subcontractor, Scopelec, is preparing a social plan that could lead to the layoff of 800 people, the company announced on Thursday, April 21. information by Figaro†
“Management announced the plan to bring the social partners together in the coming days to prepare the implementation of a PSE [plan de sauvegarde de l’emploi] which would impact 800 jobs” of the 3,600, said a spokesman for the company – the largest cooperative in France by number of employees. A demonstration by Scopelec employees will be held on the Place de la Bastille in Paris on Thursday.
The company provided the fiber installation and maintenance of the copper network for Orange, under a contract that expired at the end of March and accounted for 40% of the estimated turnover of 475 million euros in 2021.
The subcontractor, who was informed in mid-November of the termination of this contract, believes that it has not received any warning signals from Orange about the loss of turnover and that it has not had the time to prepare for this.
Avoid “one of the toughest social plans”
Since November, when 1,800 jobs at risk were listed, “700 people have been reclassified internally, or have left for other companies that have won contracts, or have left the telecom field itself”continues the spokesman for Scopelec.
The company’s employees published an open letter in several newspapers on Thursday to the presidential candidates Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, as well as to the candidates for the parliamentary elections, calling on them to prevent “one of the toughest social plans France has seen in months”†
The company, which has been in the backup procedure for a month, requests Orange“really guides in [sa] social restructuring” and part of the PSE finances, and that the state shareholder “plays the role of impartial arbitrator”†
She plans to appeal against the decision of Friday, April 15, by the judge in the chambers of the Commercial Court of Paris, which rejected her request for renewal of the contract with Orange, and “will also award Orange on the merits because the termination of the commercial contracts does not seem to us to have respected the rules of commercial law”she explained.
