Right of alert on three sites in the west of the country, social dialogue considered at a standstill: the unions now want a clear position from the boss of Michelin, Florent Menegaux, on the future of the group in France, and are asking him for perspectives .
No announcements of site closures or other drastic restructurings, this Wednesday, October 9, at the central social and economic committee (CESC) of Michelin France, in Clermont-Ferrand. But there are ever-increasing fears from staff representatives. The inter-union and the CFDT voted to continue the economic alert procedure initiated in June for the Cholet, Vannes and Joué-lès-Tours sites, whose structural difficulties were confirmed by the expert requested and who employ nearly 1,500 people, or a little less than 10% of the approximately 17,000 Michelin employees in France.
Explain yourself clearly
What’s next?? This is the referral from the boss of the manufacturer himself, Florent Menegaux being ordered to explain himself clearly without further delay. “The difficulties are obvious, but we have no response from management which is buying time,” laments José Tarantini for the CFE-CGC. “We no longer accept it. It is a question of knowing where we are going.”
“This is the first time that we have activated such a right of alert, and moreover on three sites,” adds Nicolas Robert for SUD. Social dialogue has been broken for two years. The company communicated in April on salary “ decent”. And the sustainability of jobs?? We feel that there is too much left unsaid.”
Site closures or downsizing of staff, this is what the unions fear, in the long term, while maintaining the desire to find solutions collectively and develop perspectives.
“We hope that it is not too late to adapt the industrial tool,” underlines Laurent Bador for the CFDT. “Management must inform employees and, if possible, reassure them.”
Serious concern on all sites
Romain Baciak, on behalf of the CGT, is much harsher: “We expect Florent Menegaux to be honest with the employees, to stop lying to them and leaving them in uncertainty. For us, the sites de Montceau, Troyes and Le Puy are also in complicated situations.”
A concern that other unions do not necessarily share, focusing on the turbulence experienced by the group’s western sites, four years after the closure of the La Roche-sur-Yon factory, in Vendée.
For its part, management assures, this Wednesday evening, that it wants to “examine with the greatest attention the reactions and proposals expressed by the trade union organizations during the CSEC”. It remains to be seen the reaction of Florent Menegaux in person. The unions hope for a rapid return, because staff concerns are high, they insist, not only on the sites directly mentioned.
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