The Carrefour Nice TNL shopping center once again has to deal with an unprecedented situation: the enforcement of health pass controls for employees. Implemented only yesterday morning, many are rejecting it.
“We don’t understand!” is the mindset of most of the Carrefour staff. Although a large majority of the store’s employees are already up-to-date with their vaccinations, the remaining minority prefer to wait before proceeding. This is the case for the young student working at the checkout, Célia A. As she serves a customer, she does not hesitate to share that this new stage of the health pass is nothing more than a ploy to “force the staff to get vaccinated.” A staunch anti-vaxxer, she promises she will not give in.
Further down the main aisle, another staff member is also struggling to accept the news. “It’s not right to reach this point,” asserts Lamyae H. For her, it’s unfair that the company has to abide by certain rules when other larger stores are not affected by this procedure. “Even if Lidl, for example, is very small in terms of space, the employees are still in contact with the public,” she adds.
A negative test or a vaccination certificate is the price to pay to come to work; otherwise, it’s a return home without getting paid.
Union Support
It’s a real psychological blow for many cashiers, retail staff, and even those employees who are not in direct contact with the public. The staff does not feel understood by management regarding the new law. However, the unions present in the store, such as the CFDT of Carrefour Nice TNL, assure that they will not let them down and plan to find solutions to avoid multiple potential resignations.
According to a union member, a petition has been launched so that the store can provide various solutions for its employees. Leila Khalifa, a cashier and above all a union representative of CFDT, assures that she will fight to the end for her “little protégés.” The goal is simple: to facilitate maximum access to the workplace for those who do not have a pass or a negative test. That is why the setup of a testing unit in the company’s infirmary has been requested.
According to the union, “Carrefour goes beyond the law by imposing the health pass on all its employees,” since some of its employees are not in direct contact with the public. The CFDT officials have therefore requested that for these individuals, the pass should not be necessary. The coming days are likely to become increasingly burdensome if the union’s demands are not heard.
