"If I'm the one they targeted, it's because I'm a union member": At Magellium-Artal, unfair dismissal and aggressive management denounced by the CGT

Last April, while returning from a week of sick leave, Nadia ¹ , an employee of the Toulouse company Magellium-Artal, had the unpleasant surprise of being summoned by her company's human resources. The key was a pre-dismissal interview . Having been an employee of the group specializing in image processing in the space and defense sectors for two and a half years, the developer was shocked. " For me, it was incomprehensible. At the time, I was on a somewhat complicated project, where I was doing the work of three developers, so it was a lot of pressure. But in two and a half years, no one had ever complained about my work ." Since then, many union branches and political groups in Toulouse have mobilized to denounce unfair dismissal .

Management claims "professional inadequacy" due to a lack of productivity. Less than a month later, Nadia was fired by her company. For the employee, a CGT union member, management's arguments don't hold water. " There are employees who are overworked everywhere in the company. If I'm the one they targeted, it's because I'm a union member ," she continues.

More than just a CGT member, at Magellium-Artal, Nadia is considered a whistleblower . In early 2024, along with nearly fifteen colleagues from her unit, she denounced the moral harassment and psychosocial risks caused by the management of their unit head. After a mandatory internal investigation, management ultimately chose to move the unit's employees to other departments and keep the manager in question in his position.

" Of the 16 who highlighted the dysfunctions, only 8 are still with the company . And those who remain are somewhat sidelined in the sense that they have few projects," analyzes Vanessa Pedinotti, CGT union representative at the company. For the union, this episode symbolizes the toxic management methods implemented. Contacted, the management of Magellium-Artal did not respond to our requests.

A little over three years ago, Vanessa Pedinotti founded the CGT Magellium-Artal branch from scratch, with one goal: to bring more demands to management. From the branch's launch, relations with the company have been stormy. " For three years, the attacks have been brutal: insults, accusations of signature extortion, leaflet bans... The examples are numerous ," explains Vanessa Pedinotti.

They are all the more pressing today as the next professional elections are coming up in October. " There is a strong risk of intimidation, because what is looming is that the CGT will make a raid," continues the union representative. "For the moment, we are at 33% representation. But given the collective organization in place for the past three and a half years, we risk being in the majority in October ."

For the CGT, Nadia's dismissal is part of this framework, but also comes at an opportune time for the company. Recently acquired by Weinberg Capital Partners, an investment fund for the next five years, Magellium-Artal is looking to boost its profitability in the short term. A double-win operation.

On April 30, more than 50 union, political, and community organizations gathered in front of the company's Toulouse headquarters to protest the dismissal proceedings. While the protests failed to force management to back down, activists have no intention of stopping there, as legal action has been filed to have the dismissal recognized as discriminatory. Unions and political supporters will meet on July 4 in Toulouse, ahead of the scheduled hearing at the Labor Court.