Suffering at work, resignations… An organization in Eure on the verge of implosion

The meeting room of La House for All (MPT)* is surprisingly full. As the evening began, Tuesday November 29, 2022, some parents came to pick up their children before going home. But behind the scenes, dozens of employees and administrators of the youth reception association are gathering. The faces are closed. Some exchanged sideways glances, not daring to speak. The chairs are arranged in a circle, in the center of the meeting room, so that everyone faces each other. And President Daniele Picot we were immediately dismissed: “Sir, who invited you? This is a private meeting. You have nothing to do there. “We will not attend.

“Difficulty” and “tension”

recently, Illness is everywhere in the range of association. “Nobody listens to us”, launched an employee who wanted to remain anonymous. At least, no one was listening until the general meeting on November 8th. This ordinary GA renews the board of directors (made up of volunteers) and the office of the association every year. But this time, “it went wrong,” an anonymous source said. According to several related testimonies, employees there openly expressed their “pain” and “tension” that interfered with their working conditions. The meeting was so complicated that the office of the association was not even elected.

We had to wait until November 29 and this famous meeting to see things change. certainly Waking up was not present, but we know from a reliable source that this meeting between employees and administrators was intended to reduce tensions. This “conciliation meeting” was organized by the administrator and mayor of Illeville-sur-Montfort, Vladimir Hangard. He himself admitted: “The general meeting on November 8 was bad. We organized this meeting to calm things down and know each other’s condition. I left this meeting with certainty. »

However, on the employees’ side, the feeling is different

Some people came out crying. We are out of breath. We still hope that things will change now. But we have been warning about our working conditions for several months.

How did we get here?

Lack of communication

now, seven employees of the association are on sick leave because of bad working conditions. MPT director Barbara Renoux was also arrested. According to some anonymous sources, all the problems raised by the employees go back to one important moment: the departure of the former director, Magali Flamand, in May 2021. Since then, “simply, the bad climate in the association has gradually been fixed”, assured one of our sources. In a long letter addressed to the administrators, that Waking up was able to consult, a group of employees returning point by point to the problems experienced in the past year. All remember “a breakdown of the internal organization”. This results in “a crying lack of listening and communication” on the part of management. For example, “staff”, the meetings organized weekly between all department managers, have only taken place “occasionally” in the past year.

Moreover, the repeated absence of the current director, Barbara Renoux, complicates the “daily management of the association”. Work stoppages, telecommuting or external appointments by the manager are never communicated. This results in delays “for the signing of administrative documents, payment of external stakeholders, leave requests or contract renewal”, continue the employees in their mail. Added to this are administrative problems such as “errors in pay slips, delay in payment of invoices, loss of proof of purchase, slowness of orders…”

In other words, the good overall atmosphere is not there anymore. But this is not for lack of alertness: “Several times we have raised these problems with our management, ensuring, with supporting evidence, an employee. But we have not seen any improvement. »

President Danièle Picot always covered up the incident. No one did anything to fix the problem.

Hence the employees’ speech at the general meeting on November 8th. “It seems to us that our last resort is to hear ourselves”, confesses one of them.

Divisions within the office

In recent weeks, the situation within the association has changed again. In their letter addressed to administrators, the employees mentioned “tension within the office”. According to our information, these differences divide the president Danièle Picot and the other three members. So Jean-Christophe Bisson, treasurer, resigned at the beginning of November (see box) and the other members did not want to stand again at the general meeting on November 8.

This disagreement “affects services and divides employees”, as the divisions observed “in decision-making” of the office, refers to the letter. Those elements are also a source of suffering at work in MPT. Employees lament the “lack of top-down information” from management or the executive office. “We measure the consequences when we see that our projects are slow to be put in place because our requests are not voted”, continued the employees.

However, the main victims of all these dysfunctions are not the employees: “The families that are accepted at MPT. It’s sad because we love our work and all we want is to find peace, some employees explained to us. But now, we can’t do it properly and it breaks our hearts. »

“All is well” for the president

For President Danièle Picot, circulate, nothing to see. Since the meeting on Tuesday, November 29, “we have burst the abscess”, he assured. According to him, administrators want to see each employee individually “to hear their grievances”. However, it was difficult for him to explain their discomfort. In his eyes, “everything is fine”.

Everyone has talked to each other and now everyone has to find their place.

To move forward, the president is announcing an extraordinary general meeting on January 9th. This meeting will make it possible to reconstitute the board of directors and especially the MPT office. During the GA, Danièle Picot was “going away [ses] duty of the president. And he hopes that “the relationship will be good enough to have a constructive association”. At the same time, Isabelle Duong, mayor of Manneville-sur-Risle and administrator, requested an audit of the association under the Community of Communes Pont-Audemer Val de Risle, “for perfect transparency”. The most important, according to Danièle Picot, is being able to quickly return to calm “to ensure the quality of service for parents and children”.

With this announcement, the president responded to one of the wishes of the employees who had long demanded his resignation and that of director Barbara Renoux. Contacted, the latter did not answer our questions. For sick employees, the future of MPT cannot be written in its two leaders. “Trust is broken,” an anonymous source concluded.

* Maison Pour Tous Pont-Audemer Val de Risle (formerly MJC Val de Risle) is an association under the law of 1901 located in Montfort-sur-Risle. It offers many services such as crèche, multi reception, relay of childminders, outdoor center, youth area, festive events throughout the year… The main financial partners of the association are the Community of communes Pont-Audemer Val de Risle and the CAF.

Was this article helpful to you? Remember that you can follow L’Éveil de Pont-Audemer in the My News space. With one click, after registration, you can see all the news of your favorite cities and brands.