Stellantis ---- On Monday, October 14, the boss of the
Franco-Italian-American car manufacturer Stellantis, Carlos Tavares,announced that he was not ruling out factory closures in the coming
months, citing Chinese competition in the context of the transition to
all-electric. Following this statement, hundreds of employees from
Stellantis, Renault and their subcontractors responded to the call from
the metallurgy branch of the CGT and demonstrated on Thursday, October
17 in front of the Paris Motor Show to denounce the acceleration of
social disruption in the sector. In addition to job cuts, unionists are
also denouncing the relocation of production.
Since the merger between Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat Chrysler in 2021,
Stellantis' workforce in Italy has been reduced by more than 10,000
people, to around 40,000. In France too, in the factories of Poissy,
Douvrin, Caen, the days of partial unemployment have multiplied since
the beginning of the year with the slowdown in the automobile market.
According to the unions, which have called a strike across the entire
automobile sector, 20,000 employees of Stellantis and its suppliers took
to the streets to demand guarantees on employment and the production of
new models on Friday, October 18 in Italy. Stellantis management
indicated on November 26 that no plant closures were planned in the
short term in France, and reaffirmed its commitment "to maintain
industrial activity in its French plants until 2027", stressed the
CFE-CGC union at the end of a joint committee on the group's strategy,
which concerns the activities of the next three years. In Poissy
(Yvelines), the DS3 Crossback and Opel Mokka SUVs remain in production
and are only "halfway through their career", indicated a source within
the group. With a new 4-year cycle, this could give hope for activity
until 2029. Employees at the Douvrin site (Pas-de-Calais), which
manufactures thermal engines and whose fate is causing concern, will be
gradually transferred to the neighboring battery plant of ACC, the
Stellantis joint venture. The application of 50 employees was not
accepted at ACC but Stellantis has committed to finding a solution for
them. The English Vauxhall plant in Luton employing more than 1,100
people, which manufactures utility vehicles, the production of which
will be taken over by the French plant in Hordain (North) will close.
In April 2023, the car manufacturer is launching a major job cut plan in
the United States and Canada. Thus, in the United States, voluntary
departures will be offered to 33,500 employees.
Dismissed before the end of his term, the CEO of the Stellantis group,
Carlos Tavares, is resigning "with immediate effect" from his position
on December 1, the company announced in a press release. Carlos Tavares
will not leave empty-handed. Already crowned with a crazy salary of 36.5
million euros for the year 2023, the powerful boss of the automobile
industry should also pocket "a few tens of millions of euros".
Volkswagen
The Volkswagen group launched on September 25, 2024, to the whistles of
thousands of employees, crucial negotiations for the future of the
leading European manufacturer which threatens to close three factories
in Germany, something never seen before in the history of the group.
More than 3,000 demonstrators from different factories in the country,
according to the powerful IG Metall union, gathered in front of the
conference center where discussions began on an unprecedented savings
plan. Employee representatives, who have co-decision-making power over
the company's strategy, have pledged to fight these plans, threatening
strikes that could paralyze Germany's largest industrial employer.
Europe's leading carmaker has unveiled a plan to cut wages by 10% and
revise its bonus system to help it achieve some of the billions in
savings it is aiming to restore its competitiveness. Volkswagen employs
more than 680,000 people worldwide, including around 120,000 for its
main VW brand in Germany. Three rounds of negotiations between
management and unions have been held, but without results. Volkswagen
workers launched strikes at its German plants on 2 December to oppose
the thousands of planned job cuts, with the risk of a major social
conflict in the middle of an election campaign. "You want war, we are
ready," read a banner in the crowd of striking workers outside the
Hanover plant. Work stoppages are taking place across the country. The
two sides are due to meet in Wolfsburg on 9 December for a fourth round
of negotiations.
Schaeffler
German automotive supplier Schaeffler has announced the elimination of
4,700 jobs in Europe and the closure of two sites, a new example of the
difficulties of the sector faced with a series of social plans. This
announcement comes a month after its merger with transmission supplier
Vitesco, which Schaeffler had warned would result in job cuts. This
savings plan corresponds to 3% of the group's payroll, which has
employed 120,000 people since the merger.
Bosch
The world leader in automotive suppliers Bosch has just announced a new
workforce reduction plan, a plan that is expected to impact some 5,500
jobs worldwide. The bulk of the cuts are expected to affect Germany,
with 3,850 jobs affected, particularly in the Hildesheim (north) and
Schwäbisch Gmünd (south) plants. These cuts mainly target the automotive
division, which generates nearly two-thirds of the group's turnover.
After cutting around 7,000 jobs in recent months, particularly in its
automotive division, the Bosch group explains in a press release that
global car production is stagnating at around 93 million units.
Valéo
Valeo's La Suze-sur-Sarthe (72) plant was in management's sights. The
plant's employees demonstrated on October 23 and then went on strike on
the 28th, demanding specific answers and an immediate bonus. The
response came on November 27 with Valéo's announcement of the closure of
2 sites (La Suze-sur-Sarthe and La Verrière (78)) and 694 forced
departures and 174 voluntary departures. According to the Force Ouvrière
(FO) union, the total would actually be 1,282 job cuts, out of 13,500
employees in France, if the employees refuse their transfer and if we
also take into account vacant positions that have been eliminated. The
Valeo group, specializing in electronic and lighting systems, had
already announced in January that it was considering cutting 1,150 jobs
worldwide, including 235 in France, mainly in management positions, out
of 109,900 employees worldwide.
Employees have marked Wednesday, December 11 in their diary, when
negotiations with management will begin at the Valeo Reims site and when
the exact positions under threat should be known. Until then, no
concrete action is planned by the unions.
At the dawn of the 21st century, the Reims site specializing in
electronic and lighting systems had nearly 2,000 employees. Ten times
more than those expected to remain in a few months. A majority of
permanent employees, 90% of them according to the inter-union, walked
out at the end of October to oppose the new working conditions put in
place by management. In addition to their eight hours of actual work per
day, these employees of the automotive equipment manufacturer must work
overtime every day, even on their Monday day off and during the weekend
for some. They were also asked to work on November 1 and 11, public
holidays. To compensate, the strikers wanted a bonus of 150 euros per
month until the end of this period of efforts and a bonus of 500 euros
at the end of the year. This extension of working hours was apparently
put in place following a problem with defective parts, which could
present a risk to car manufacturers. While 398 employees and former
employees of Valeo in Reims hoped that their exposure to asbestos in
their workplace between 1960 and 1997 would finally be recognized, the
Rambouillet industrial tribunal recently decided otherwise. It was
considered that the recognition of the anxiety damage requested by the
plaintiffs could not be acted upon, because they initiated their legal
proceedings after the limitation period that they were required to
respect. The interested parties contest and intend to appeal this decision.
Walor
Walor, which has belonged to the German group Mutares since the end of
2023, took over the former Ateliers des Janves in Bogny-sur-Meuse and
AMI in Vouziers in November 2018, which were then in bankruptcy. Less
than a year after the acquisition of the automobile parts manufacturer
by the German investment fund Mutares, the managers are requesting the
opening of a safeguard plan for the Bogny-sur-Meuse site (Ardennes)
which has 127 employees, and the placement in receivership for the
Vouziers unit (Ardennes) and its 90 employees. Faced with the uncertain
future of the Walor metallurgical plant, two of whose sites are in the
Ardennes, in Vouziers and Bogny-sur-Meuse, employees went on strike on
April 4. The strike was not followed by the CGT.
Forgex, a French forging specialist based in Monthermé, is offering to
buy Walor, and plans to keep 83 of the 198 employees on the job. The
tone has risen at the Walor factory in Bogny where some of the staff
have walked out to protest against the management's proposals as part of
the redundancy plan that accompanies the takeover of the company by the
Forgex group. 101 will ultimately be kept on, 97 will see their jobs
eliminated in the coming days. Initially, two out of three positions
were to be eliminated, but it will ultimately be one out of two. On
November 25, the Sedan court approved the purchase of the two Vouziers
and Bogny-sur-Meuse sites by Forgex. The two factories are being sold
for a symbolic euro, which the legal representatives retained for
Vouziers found "shocking". "The management is proposing a EUR2,500 bonus
above the legal limit and EUR1,500 in support for the dismissed
employees, which is very far from our demands," explains the CGT union
representative at Walor Bogny. The management has proposed "a total
amount of EUR805,000, or EUR7,000 per employee. This is very far from
expectations, it is an unworthy proposal", believes the CGT union
representative of Walor Bogny. The unions are demanding 18 months'
salary and 2,000 euros per year of seniority.
When the sale was announced, employees at the Bogny-sur-Meuse plant
renewed their strike. They meet every day to take stock of the job
protection plan proposed by Walor and decide on the actions to be taken.
"We will not give up, we can no longer back down, we do not want the
cherry tails that are being offered to us".
Michelin
On November 5, the announcement of the closure of the Michelin factories
in Vannes (which has 299 employees) and Cholet (which employs 955
employees) caused a shockwave on these two production sites employing
more than 1,200 employees. In the aftermath of this massive blow, the
company's workers in Maine-et-Loire decided to continue their protest
movement against this decision on November 6, and to organize a
demonstration in Cholet.
Strike in Germany over wages
Hundreds of thousands of employees throughout Germany have participated
in warning strikes in recent weeks. IG Metall had initially demanded a
7% wage increase over a period of twelve months, as well as greater
flexibility in terms of working hours. The new agreement concluded by
the IG Metall union stipulates that wages will be increased in two
stages by a total of 5.1%, as well as a permanent increase in the
collectively agreed additional compensation. The final wage increase
will therefore be 5.5%, with the agreement lasting 25 months. 3.9
million employees of companies such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Siemens and
ThyssenKrupp are affected by the agreement.
Sources: Médiapart, regional press, CGT
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4352
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