"We're letting the wolf into the sheepfold": with the arrival of Shein at BHV, employees are expressing their anger
Following the announcement of a partnership with fast-fashion giant Shein, a union at BHV Marais struck a strike this Friday, October 10. It is raising concerns about employees' working conditions and the deterioration of their store. The cause: the erratic choices of their boss, Frédéric Merlin, which allegedly contradict the department store's ethical charter and identity, to the point of leading it to its downfall.
Three months after striking with trumpets, whistles, bells and a sound system under the management windows, around a hundred employees of the Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville (BHV Marais) took to the Rue de la Verrerie (Paris 4th arrondissement) again this Friday, October 10, at the call of the department store's inter-union (CFDT, CFTC, CFE-CGC, CGT, Sud Solidaires).
With one difference: the teeming presence of microphones and television cameras, completely absent the first time. The alerts about the working conditions of their colleagues and the deterioration of their store took on a much more acute dimension for the unions under the effect of an unexpected blow to national issues: the announcement, on October 1, 2025, of the arrival, on the 6th floor of their building, of Shein, the notorious Chinese fast fashion giant.
The staff representatives pass around, their eyes awed, a phone displaying the latest photos posted on the boss's Instagram account. Frédéric Merlin poses, laughing, glass of wine in hand, slumped on the bunk of a first-class plane.
A final provocation in the eyes of staff representatives, as signals of...
L'Humanité
