in the Landes, young people are trained in the business world

In Morcenx-la-Nouvelle, in the Landes, the former labor exchange made available by the town hall welcomes around fifteen young cooperators, aged 16 to 18, every morning in the summer. « For eight weeks, they agreed to get up sometimes very early, because not all of them live in the city center, and to work in the service of companies and individuals », notes Aurélie Lagarde, their host.

On the program for their day, a team meeting, then everyone goes to work, who to be sorting ambassadors at the Marquèze ecomuseum, who to repaint the walls of a school, mow the lawn of an elderly person or animate a refreshment bar. Around 5 p.m., the young people on site take stock of the day with the facilitators and enter the invoices.

All these young people have found seasonal employment within the framework of a youth services cooperative (CJS), an ephemeral enterprise which only lasts for one summer. About fifty are created every summer in France. Born in Quebec 30 years ago and arriving in France 10 years ago, the CJS aim to raise young people’s awareness of collective entrepreneurship, to revitalize working-class neighborhoods and to bring in some money for young co-operators.

Escape from working in the fields

In Morcenx-la-Nouvelle, young people were able to test their ability to take charge. “For all the assignments we carry out, we approached clients, established quotes and followed up on our dashboard. What we earn is put in a common pot”, explains, sure of herself, Mélanie Caussarieu, high school student during the year and cooperator this summer.

Like her, Marius Godfather, 16, was looking for a summer job. To escape the castration of corn in the fields, which is often a must for young Landais in the summer, he applied to the cooperative being created: “From day one, we signed our contract with the Co-actions business and employment cooperative, it’s impressive. »

Each CJS is sheltered by a cooperative or an adult association in order to benefit from its legal registration. Young people sign a specific contract with their cooperative. This publishes the invoices and at the imminent closure of the CJS, it will donate the turnover in wages to the young people. According to the CJS, they can expect a remuneration ranging from 400 to 1,000 €.

Operate like a business

The CJS have a few good fairies around them. They are brought together in a local committee, including youth services, communities, economic partners. With as linchpin, in Morcenx, the association Ploucs, in charge of the animation and also of the transport of the teenagers on their places of work, a crucial problem in this vast rural department. For three years, Ploucs has been leading a CJS in the different towns of the agglomeration, for an overall cost of €50,000, shared by the different levels.

This year, young people from Sabers and Morcenx are involved. A particularity that explains the name of their CJS: Sabenx (contraction of Sabers and Morcenx). “As in any cooperative, we took shares at €2, and we elected co-presidents, explains Melanie. Each of the cooperators is in a committee (finance, commercial, communication). For two months, we really operate like a business. It is interesting for our future insertion and for our CV! »

Awareness of selective sorting

This August afternoon, Mélanie and Marius are on a mission to raise awareness of selective sorting among visitors to the Marquèze ecomuseum, a site that reconstructs the life of the Landais in the 19th century.^e century. They stand near the garbage cans. “They are a bit shy at first, especially with adults, laughs Denis Richard, the director, but to help them, we train them for a day. This is the second year that we have a contract with a CJS. It is also important for us to involve young people from the territory, who may come to work with us later. » The ecomuseum employs 25 people and more than 60 in season.

In a rural region such as the Landes or in urban districts, the CJS also functions as an entry point into the professional environment. « In each CJS, the facilitators talk to young people about opportunities in the social and solidarity economy, underlines Régis Tirlemont, president of the Cooperative Factory, which labels the CJS. Subsequently, we know that some young people embark on the creation of their activity, get involved in local community life or become our next CJS facilitators! »

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More than 4,000 young French people have gone through these cooperatives

Youth service cooperatives (CJS) will celebrate their 10th anniversary next year. They operate for two summer months on the same principles as scops (cooperative and participatory societies): election of leaders, collective decision-making, equitable sharing of profits.

About fifty CJS are born every year, mainly in Brittany, Hauts-de-France and Nouvelle-Aquitaine. According to statistics from the Cooperative Factory, more than 4,000 young people aged 16 to 18 have joined the scheme since the start: mostly girls and young people from working-class neighborhoods.