We are Back Makers from different roles and backgrounds, generalists or in the BoT.
We’re based in Bordeaux, Paris, or working remotely, all under French contracts 🇫🇷
Some of us joined BM recently, others have been here for many years.
We love Back Market, the company’s mission, and its values 🏴☠️
We love our colleagues, the people we work with every day 🫶
But for the past few years, we’ve seen how little influence we have, as individuals, to protect what we love at BM and change what we don’t.
During the layoffs of 2023, and even after, we saw colleagues and friends leave the company under harsh conditions that didn’t align with our values. Since then, we’ve noticed our working conditions getting worse, with the enforced and monitored return to the office, and reorganizations that ignore our teams’ workload.
We refuse to accept this. Even though not everything is bad, our weird spirit pushes us not to stand by and let the company change in ways we don’t agree with.
It is said that every power needs to be counterbalanced, by influencing and monitoring its decisions, ensuring they are fair, aligned with our values, and are properly implemented. It’s up to us to organize and create a counterbalance to the management’s arbitrary decisions, and defend our interests and vision for BM.
This isn’t easy. The world of work, its laws, and its practices are complex and sometimes hard to understand. But the law provides a way for employees to organize collectively: through unions. This is true in France, and in many other countries.
A union like Solidaires Informatique is a group of people working in the same sector, who strive to improve working conditions. In France, a union section (section syndicale) is a local branch formed by members within the same company.
We have decided to form a Solidaires Informatique union section at BM.
True, BM already has the Workers’ Council (CSE). We recognize the dedication and efforts of its members, who do their best. Sadly, their powers are limited. They often have an advisory role only, like with the PSE (layoff plan in France), and their influence is limited.
The fact is that French law actually gives more power to unions, at least if they gather enough support in the CSE elections. Their agreement is then required for a PSE; it also triggers regular mandatory negotiations on pay, working conditions, etc..
By joining a union, we also find allies and resources. Through a union like Solidaires Informatique, we can:
- Share experiences with fellow workers from other companies,
- Train ourselves in labor law and learn how to defend our interests,
- Get legal—or just human—support when needed.
Even though every company is different, the same stories repeat over and over: forced return to the office, pressure, layoffs, harassment—these issues are everywhere. Every time, solidarity among fellow workers, both inside and outside the company, makes all the difference. We are not alone!
The union also deals with issues that go beyond single companies, like the reforms against the French welfare state (health insurance, unemployment benefits, pensions), the inhumane treatment of migrants, the inadequate response to the climate crisis, etc.
Many of us have participated in protests against the far-right this year, before and after the snap elections. We also demonstrated against the pension reform in 2023, sometimes even going on strike. We could have done it together 😉
We chose Solidaires Informatique specifically for its activist values, and we identify ourselves with its fights. The union is environmentally conscious, feminist, pro-LGBTI+, anti-racist, anti-fascist—and also anti-capitalist. Because Back Market shows the limits of trying to change the system from within: it’s a start, but it won’t be enough 😕
These values are also those of Back Market. Didn’t we participate in various climate protests? Didn’t we refuse to advertise in far-right publications? Let’s also think about all the efforts made for inclusivity.
During the 2024 All Hands, we were told that what made the company successful was “the fighting spirit, between raising our fists and saying: no, this isn’t working, we are going to break the system and do things differently.” And also: “it’s the activism at the heart of the brand that really makes us different.” Or:
“Being weird is about being different, it is about taking risks, and that requires a lot of courage. And that ability to take risks and to be courageous requires overcoming fear. And the antidote to fear is love. If you’re trying to figure out how not to fear fear, the answer is actually in each other. So when you are stressed or afraid at work, you can connect with your colleagues and ask for help. And that’s probably the best way to overcome fear.”
We, Back Makers, need to have the same mindset toward Back Market. When something isn’t working, let’s have the courage to come together and push for the changes that need to happen. This is the only way everyone can find their place here, even the less privileged among us.
The more of us there are, the more successful we will be. Obviously, the more we weigh in, the more we’ll be listened to. But also, our movement will be more representative if it draws its strength from a diverse collective.
So, it’s simple: