in Cholet, Michelin employees angry after the announcement of the factory closure

The tire manufacturer announced on Tuesday the closure of two factories in France, in Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) and Vannes (Morbihan). More than 1,250 positions will be eliminated by the start of 2026.

Shock and dejection. After the announcement, Tuesday, November 5, of the closure of the Cholet factory (Maine-et-Loire) by the Michelin group, employees are angry. Gaëtan, 32, has been working on site for twelve years producing tires. And even if this production was in sharp decline, less 40% of activity since 2019 according to the unions, he still seems shaken by the announcement. “We already felt it in the workshopssays Gaëtan. We heard a lot of noise, but we didn’t think it was going to happen as quickly as that and especially in such a short time.”

“Overnight, we are told that in eight months, we will no longer have a job.”

Gaëtan, Michelin employee

at franceinfo

And if Michelin management speaks of a decision taken as a last resort after years of difficulties linked to inflation, energy prices and unbridled competition from the Chinese, Cédric rejects these arguments. For him, it is a deliberate strategy on the part of management which had already closed the La Roche-sur-Yon factory, not far from here, in 2019. “We clearly see the group’s strategyexplains Cédric. French sites are expensive and we realize that today there is Vannes and Cholet, what will it be tomorrow? We don’t know. There was La Roche-sur-Yon, there was Poitiers. Now we wait, we are thrown out like trash.”

But while Michelin promises to support the 1,254 employees concerned, Morgane Royer, SUD union representative at the Cholet factory, calls on the general manager Florent Menegaux, with the reputation of a social boss, to obtain at least conditions worthy of departure : “Mr Menegaux talks to us about a decent salary. We are going to wait for a decent layoff and see if Michelin is able to live up to its claims almost everywhere. For the moment, what they have given us in terms of support for the future, it is not understandable and it is not acceptable coming from a group like Michelin. We are not the small SME in the area.

The employees still present in front of the site specifically denounce the proposal to leave with the equivalent of a year’s salary as compensation. Some intend to block entry to the site over the next few days, while discussions on departure conditions are due to resume tomorrow between management and union representatives.