Toulouse. Cultura workers on strike and ready to continue
This Saturday, December 3, they mobilized to demand a salary increase of 10%.
A guard of honor in front of the doors of Cultura de Balma. An almost friendly atmosphere. Customers might believe in a warm welcome from store employees for this first Saturday in December. The chanted slogan, “Cultura on strike”, brings us back to a completely different reality. About twenty employees, non-executives, responded to the national call of the CGT union from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“My salary increase is €35 gross per month. It doesn’t even compensate for the increase in petrol”, regrets Grégory (first name changed), in the group for 15 years. Because this is the first demand of the strikers: to raise wages. The CGT is asking for a 10% increase as soon as possible. “The cost of living has increased but not what we get. We can’t get by,” says Arnaud, 29. Grégory adds: “We also ask for more benevolence from the management. They want us to be versatile, but we don’t value our skills over the salary”. The strikers are also questioning the choices of the group. “The management invests in the development of the group, but the employees are put aside, it invests nothing for us”, he concludes.
A petition was filed online by the CGT, and had collected more than 1000 signatures on Saturday evening. Before the strike, the management had proposed the advancement of the annual discussions, from the summer to February. Not enough to satisfy the union. The employees now say they are ready to renew the movement next Saturday if necessary, in Balma and Labège.