On November 21, 1924, a social movement began in Douarnenez. It lasted
until January 6, 1925, the cannery bosses giving in to the demands ofthe workers. Their hourly wage going from 80 cents before the strike to
one franc. Already in 1905, the sardine workers had mobilized to protest
against their miserable treatment and to demand payment by the hour, 80
centimes, instead of payment per thousand sardines worked. These
uprisings are two major social episodes in Brittany because the strikers
won their case, but also and above all, because these movements were led
by women.
In 2024, the city pays tribute to these struggles around the centenary
that the cannery workers have just updated. Indeed, two major walkouts
in the two large factories have taken place in recent weeks. This
reminds us, on the one hand, of the importance of this memory of
collective struggles and on the other hand, the need to tell this memory
in the light of what is happening today in the factories, in which the
lines production are still mainly run by underpaid women.
Relaunch the industry?
During the Big 2021 event which was held at the Accord Hôtel Arena in
Paris, a trade fair dedicated to business and investment in industry,
the Minister Delegate in charge of Industry (now Minister Delegate to
the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty), Agnès
Panier-Runacher, addressed the audience of industrial leaders, making
the following remarks to a background of background music: "You will
give young people the pride of working in the company, the pride of
working in the factory so that people say that "when you go to a
production line, it's not a punishment". It's for your country, it's for
magic. And this is what you can make possible and I thank you for
it.[...]I love the industry because it's one of the few places in the
21st century where you can still find magic. The magic of the ballet of
robots, of the ballet of men. The magic of the workshop where we cannot
distinguish the frame from the worker. ".
However, just posting photos on social media alongside industry workers
isn't enough to really know what's going on. When the minister testifies
about her work experience in a company, it is as division director of an
automobile manufacturer, in the offices, that is to say, in "the
castle", the eccentric island of the The factory where the company's
executives are concentrated. It is by this term "the castle" that the
workers of Chancerelle designate the premises of the executives.
Chancerelle is the largest cannery still in operation in this "sardine
capital" whose small fish has made it famous and where small cans of
sardines are manufactured, better known under the "Connétable" brand and
available in several ranges. The cannery, considered by the company's
directors to be "the oldest still in operation in the world", has a
turnover which they estimate at 170 million euros. In recent years, the
company has established two factories in Morocco. Indeed, the main
French manufacturers of canned sardines do not have enough fish off the
French coast. They set up elsewhere, such as on the Moroccan coast where
sardines are abundant and labor is much less "expensive", with salary
costs representing only a very small part of the cost price of the can
of sardines. (12% on average). These factories in the Maghreb produce
half of the volumes of sardines canned by the Breton cannery. And that's
really magical for their capital.
Developments in industrial employment
Industrial employment, nationally, has been on a downward trajectory
since 1974 following the consequences of the first oil shock. Over the
last four decades, the workforce of industrial companies has increased
from 5.7 million employees to just over 3.4 million, including the
agri-food industries and energy production and distribution activities.
Douarnenez is not immune to this economic situation. In the 19th
century, there were up to 26 production sites. The fishermen on board
the Douarneniste boats, sardine fishing boats, then had to face the
scarcity of fish and the hazards of fishing on the coasts. The rowboats
have given way today to more modern boats, the bolincheurs. The
canneries and processing plants have expanded and swallowed up the
smallest of them. They have also invested in supplying large quantities
to hypermarkets. 100 years after the struggles of the sardine fisheries,
of these canneries, only 3 remain while there were 17 in 1960:
Chancerelle is the largest recruiter of labor with the city's hospital,
1st in peak fishing and arrival season. Established first on the quay of
the fishing port (the port of Rosmeur), then next to the fish market,
the Chancerelle factory is now located away from the town, in the
industrial zone of Lannugat (3).
Small ship, still called by most locals "Paulet" in reference to the
name of its creator Paul-Edouard Paulet, but bought by Thaï Union in
2010. The Thai company has multiplied acquisitions until becoming the
number one global seafood company with a turnover of 3.4 billion euros,
up 7% in 2021.
Kerbriant, a family business, which is located 100 meters from the
Chancerelle site and which employs 5 employees.
(Re)development of the territory
Other symbolic places, which are part of the maritime heritage of the
city, are abandoned by the town hall: the Abri du Marin, one of the 11
shelters founded by Jacques de Thézac in Finistère , and which is
located above the port of Rosmeur, sees its destination radically
changed: from a place where sailors could find rest then which housed
the magazine Chasse-Marée for around forty years, it will be in a few
months 9 luxury accommodation at 8,000 euros per m2, where wealthy
people will find rest... a few weeks a year. It will certainly not be
the temporary workers who compensate for the fluctuations by saving
thousands of euros for the companies, which will reside there.
The key moment that was the installation of industrial canneries and the
canning of sardines in large quantities required modernized technical
equipment that had to be financed.
The workforce that was present in Douarnenez and the surrounding area
allowed manufacturers to recruit in numbers and increase production. It
was women and young girls who were the targets of recruiters in the new
industrial era. These women, who traveled with the fish along the French
coast, were hired over the year by companies which were producing more
and more in large quantities, some of them abandoning work on farms. The
young girls hired, trained by grandmothers, mothers, aunts, have given
way to temporary workers, young and old, mixed men and women, qualified
or not, who, at different times in life, join a job in which one can
claim without qualification. Even today, in the words of a young person
from Douarnenez, "everyone has their hands in the fish".
Temporary work
Flexibility and cost reduction strategies have essential consequences on
recruitment: in 20 years, the temporary employment sector has increased
from 600,000 temporary workers to 830,000 and the industry employs
300,000 today. The temporary population in the agri-food industry
increased from 56,000 to 62,500 between 2018 and 2021. As DARES
indicates, "Although representing a reduced share of salaried employment
(between 2 and 3%), the Temporary employment is a leading short-term
indicator of the evolution of economic activity: it constitutes the
component of salaried employment most sensitive to variations in the
economic climate, varying rapidly upwards or downwards depending on the
activity ". When you arrive in a territory and want to work quickly, the
temporary employment solution seems obvious to many workers, whether in
construction, large food stores or in factories. Labor-intensive
processes, strong division of labor, standardization of skills, are all
characteristics which have enabled the growth of temporary work on these
missions.
The canneries have not escaped this: historically dependent on fishing
supplies, the workers adapt to activity in the factories. These operate
from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., with 3 alternating shifts, but in recent months
activity has declined and there is no longer a day shift. The use of
temporary labor in addition to permanent labor, in this new context, has
become systematic. "Unskilled work" in the service of greater productive
efficiency, is mobilized with the help of political decision-makers who
make certain job seekers feel guilty by encouraging them to submit to
the fluctuations of "so-called shortage professions". The implementation
of "Job dating" by companies, often in partnership with France Travail,
makes it possible to expand recruitment.
The evolution of work told by a worker with 40 years in the company
What was the work like when you started, when the factory was still on
the port?
"How would I tell you, well, in terms of the work, the work was well
done, correctly, it's not like when you see now what, it's shoddy work,
done haphazardly, it wasn't like that. Before you had the foreman who
came by, and when I started boxing, there was the foreman who came by
and if it wasn't done well, she threw all your boxes back in the air,
you start again everything and the boxes were well fitted together, the
work was done correctly, whereas when you see now...[...]
I'll tell you it's not easy to work how you have to work now[...]It's In
95 we arrived in Lannugat, February in 95 if I'm not mistaken.»
Have you noticed any differences?
"Not right away, it was a few years later that we noticed, there are
lots of things that have changed,[editor's note, on the port], like IT.
But my best years were at the port, ha yeah, after that it was
modernized, the bosses were no longer the same, before, it was family,
you know it was the son and the stepchildren -son of Chancerelle,
Mr[company director]who was waiting for you at the time clock and who
shook hands with the employees, now you don't see them, we don't see
them anymore, the big bosses[...].
Since its creation, Chancerelle has worked with a local workforce, from
Cap-Sizun to the interior, mainly women. Today, their recruitment policy
is changing, because the workforce is "more difficult to recruit",
according to management. In 2018, the factory manager explained the
situation: "Despite a lot of communication and despite arrangements with
our partner temp agencies, we found ourselves for several months, and in
particular last summer, with a deficit of around 50 to 60 people in our
production workshops which put us in difficulty compared to our
customers..."
Indeed, the factory casts far and wide in order to recruit workers to
come to Douarnenez; and when temporary employment is no longer enough to
fill the positions to be filled sustainably, management changes method:
the most striking example in recent years is the recruitment of people
living overseas. Hiring campaigns were carried out as far as Reunion
Island in 2018. The company approached the National Welcoming and Action
Committee for Reunion Islanders on the Move (CNARM) and 41 people from
Reunion Island were recruited by Chancellor.
The solution found by the company was not to increase salaries in order
to obtain a greater number of candidates, but to bring in "voluntary"
and precarious workers from further afield. It is the employees already
in place who are responsible for training them, which adds an unvalued
workload, particularly financially. To recruit temporary and precarious
workers, the Addecco temp agency with which the company works is located
on the production site. The model of integrating an agency into a
company has developed in recent years: this is the case at Amazon (temp
agency in 8 French warehouses), in the automobile industry, and in mass
distribution.
In Douarnenez, there are workers of 26 nationalities. No need for
qualifications or training, you can go to the agency to find work during
a "temporary increase in activity". Work in canneries is historically
seasonal work, because the fish processed there are only caught for a
few months of the year. Weekly contracts are renewed according to the
needs and quality of the temporary employee, generally at the end of the
week, which does not allow these workers to anticipate commitment to new
missions within the company. other companies, and which completely
prevents them from complaining about their working conditions under
penalty of not being reappointed.
In 1921, the town had more than 12,000 residents, nearly 3,000 of whom
worked in the fish canneries. Today, there are 15,000 residents and 600
workers in the factory. The actions are repetitive with increasing
cadences and increasing pressure, following unreplaced retirements and
the cessation of temporary hiring at the start of spring.
The company has never been better off than during covid, a period when
"front line" workers were busy producing canned goods, a product that
lasts over time and whose purchases increase in times of crisis. On the
production line, transparent panels were erected so that the spittle
from one side did not meet those from the other. Discussions, already
difficult in normal times, were made even harder, thus promoting the
isolation of workers. A year later, the signs were still in place,
continuing the daily difficulties in communicating with colleagues.
Current struggles against the backdrop of municipal commemorations
How can we pay tribute to a struggle, a victorious one at that, without
making current struggles invisible? How can we be proud of this past
without forgetting the present and its struggles? During a mobilization
at the call of the CGT last March, only around ten people from outside
came to support the gates, despite a large call from the unions. The
company moved geographically, and took its battles out of the heart of
the city. Douarnenez was, during the 20th century, one of the first
municipalities to elect a communist mayor, and what is more, a
grassroots activist. As a symbol of break with this working-class past,
in 2020 the population voted for Jocelyne Poitevin, a mayor without
labels, but macrono-compatible and a trained notary.
For its part, the municipality is not moved by current working
conditions and uses the history of the canneries as an economic tool to
attract tourists, as illustrated by the "gift" can: the Douarnenez
tourist office has set up a "gift voucher" that can be purchased in the
shape of a small tin containing a catering offer and an overnight stay
in the city.
The marketing tool around the can magnifies its production and makes
current working conditions invisible. Despite this folklore decreed by
the municipality and certain cultural associations, this centenary of
victorious struggles highlights the current period, filled with doubts
and job cuts. The employees bear witness to this: for each error, they
are called to justify themselves, with blame in sight and the risk of
dismissal, abusive techniques in order to make "human" savings.
For its part, a collective called "Pemp eal a vo" ("five reals it will
be", in Breton, the slogan
of the sardine strike) which brings together members of cultural and
social associations, traders and municipal services in order to reflect
on the centenary of the strike. Commemoration projects do not wish to be
based on "folklore" or past nostalgia, but would like to draw on these
struggles to highlight the changes taking place today. However, they are
headed and financed by the town hall, in order to avoid any "class
struggle" discourse.
The arrival of Sophie Binet on April 5, for her first trip to Finistère,
marks the importance of this cannery in memories, and the current
issues. Visit to Chancerelle and round table on the theme "women and
work" on the program. During a speech, the general secretary of the CGT
underlines: "I am in Douarnenez to show that the 1924 strike is also a
story that is lived in the present[...]We know it, there are debates,
conflicts here in Douarnenez. Is it a postcard city for tourists or does
it remain a working-class city marked by its social struggles? It's
important to show that it's still a working-class town.»
Since the last strike in 2012, in the memory of workers, there had not
been a social movement as important and which brought together all
sectors of the factory, from production to packaging, as during this day
of strike -walkout last March, during annual negotiations with
management. The latter proposed an increase of 1%, the unions (CGT in
the lead) asked for 3% (i.e. around 350,000 euros for the company), in
the end an increase of 2.30% was signed, i.e. 1 .6 EUR more per day, a
few dozen euros on bonuses and a commitment to lead a reflection "around
working conditions". This Tuesday, April 16, it was the turn of the
Petit Navire factory to go on strike. Around forty employees protested
against management's decision to freeze the salaries of part of the
workforce following mandatory annual negotiations (NAO). Le Télégramme,
a local newspaper, reports the speech of CFDT staff representatives.:
"We asked for a 3% increase for all employees, and management[...]then
proposed a 1.25% increase in March then 1.25% in July. We therefore
signed a protocol of disagreement. In the end, only employees with
coefficients lower than 155 obtained an increase of 1.5%, which is not a
company decision but the minimum applicable within the framework of an
agreement with the Preserved Foods Union from West Atlantic Brittany.
Individual increases will also be awarded to executives and
administrative agents based on the achievement of their objectives
(...). This is difficult to accept in a context of inflation where the
cost of living is increasing for everyone. Furthermore, we have signed a
flexibility agreement which authorizes management to have employees work
48 hours a week and six days a week, compared to a maximum of 42 hours
previously. Management threatened to cut jobs if we refused to sign. We
expected more recognition from him towards the employees following this
agreement." New actions should be carried out in the coming weeks. Very
meager increase in exchange for worsened working conditions, a hundred
years after the victorious struggle of the Penn Sardinians who obtained
a 25% increase.
Today the 3% increase is systematically refused by the management of the
two companies, while inflation is causing prices to take off indecently
and jobs are becoming scarce due to the mechanization of workstations,
the drop in activity and the desire of managers and shareholders to
increase profits. So that one day machines and engineers will be the
only holders of this know-how carried for centuries by its workers, who
will be museumized as a communication and sales tool.
Marine, Douarnenez
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4197
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