The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Manufacturing Manufacture Of Food And Beverage Manufacture Of Food Products 10.89 - Manufacture of other food products n.e.c.
283 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
17 November 2021
Employment effect (start)
22 November 2021
Foreseen end date
31 December 2021
Description
The Evry commercial court has declared the judicial liquidation of the sandwich and ultra-fresh ready meal manufacturer Bergams and 283 employees have been made redundant. The company based in Grigny (Essonne) since 2011 and is the town's largest private employer. Around a hundred employees had been on strike since 14 September, blocking the production site, to demand the withdrawal of the collective agreement, which was submitted to the employees for approval at the beginning of 2021. This agreement authorised wage cuts and an annualisation of working hours, due to a very sharp fall in activity in 2020 with the health crisis. The management refused to call into question the agreement, which it says is essential for a return to financial recovery. The management explains that the illegal blockade of the site has put a fatal halt to Bergams' activity, causing the departure of its customers and suppliers. The Norac Food group, which owns Bergams, refused to support the site any longer.
The unions categorically refute the management's position, believing that other solutions could have been found and that the employees' demands were not unbearable for the company. The town of Grigny, as well as the Grand Paris Sud agglomeration community, are calling for a general mobilisation of public and economic actors to keep the Bergams industrial site and the employees' jobs alive. The company indicates that work will be undertaken with the Norac group, in liaison with the liquidators, to reclassify as many employees as possible, particularly within the group.
Eurofound (2021), Bergams, Bankruptcy in France, factsheet number 106077, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/106077.
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