Toulouse: at Relais 31, suspicion of sabotage on collection trucks
Employees of the textile collection company point to dangerous working conditions, including the condition of the trucks. The management suspects acts of sabotage a few months before the departure of some.
At the first light of day, heavy noise disrupts traffic. A driver from Relais 31 enters the Vignes roundabout in Colomiers. While turning, the body of his truck detaches and falls. “I don’t even know how the body managed to unhook. I can’t imagine if there had been an injury or worse…”, he says. It was December 16, at 7:50 a.m. Since then, many employees of the textile collection company have reported dozens of breakdowns on different vehicles. Defective side and rear door, wobbly clutch held by a rope to hold…
In a letter signed by them – which we were able to consult – 7 of the 11 employees of Relais 31 expressing their sorrows. They denounce the “dangerousness of the vehicles” and the “harsh working conditions”. .
Trucks would be regularly extra, none of them would have up-to-date technical inspection. “The trucks are designed to support 900 kg, we often transport more than two tonnes of clothes. We could come back to empty the load but we are ordered to do the full one”, confides one of the employees before pressing “the management prefers that we take a fine rather than the vehicles the technical control”. Next week, the employees will send the missive to Toulouse Métropole (Le Relais 31 won a call for tenders from the community, Ed).
Acts of sabotage?
“I’m not very surprised.” The voice of Lionel Lefort, head of the company, is not worried at the other end of the telephone. The climate has been stormy between management and some of the employees for several weeks. Relais 31 recruits people far from the job market. Contracts are for up to 24 months. During this period, employees are monitored by a professional integration officer. “On a case to a somewhat particular public, admits Lionel Lefort. It does not suit some people having to leave at some point.” According to him, the trucks will be degraded to show the manager that they are no longer roadworthy. The will is clear: to annoy management,” he says.
Other damage to the vehicles would also be due to “small clashes” that the drivers may have had. “On the trucks, there are repairs that can be done quickly, others a little less, but we are doing everything we can,” says the manager of Relais 31. On the lack of vehicle technical inspections, Lionel Lefort sighs before answering. not up to standard…”.
But the employees do not budge. There would indeed have been a failure on the part of Relais 31. “It’s too easy to take out the argument of sabotage. I don’t see how one of us could have sabotaged the truck that lost the body on the public highway,” accuses an employee. For several of them, the contract lasts a few more months. The atmosphere at work is likely to be heavy…