A few days after the announcement of the closure of the Michelin factories in Vannes (Morbihan) and Cholet (Maine-et-Loire), several hundred employees demonstrated on Friday November 8. On the site of Cholet where he had gone “to be in contact with and support employees who are experiencing a human tragedy”the Minister of Industry, Marc Ferracci, was verbally attacked by employees in distress, journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted.
Mr. Ferracci remained “three minutes” in front of the factory, according to unionists, leaving the scene shortly before 1 p.m. after a tense exchange. “I deeply regret” the decision to close the Cholet and Vannes sites “how I regret the way in which it was announced to employees”the minister had said a little earlier, after leaving a steering committee at the sub-prefecture with union representatives and local elected officials.
More than 1,250 jobs in total are at risk by 2026. “I'm glad that politicians are finally seeing the true face of Michelin, they fell off their chairs when they learned of the brutality” of this announcement, declared to an AFP correspondent, Romain Denecheau, elected CFDT of the Michelin factory in Cholet who participated in this meeting. After the minister's departure, several hundred employees marched in the Cholet industrial zone chanting: “Fifty years to wear us out, five minutes to fire us”, or: “Bibendum is beautiful, always money before men. »
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From the start of the morning, tires were set on fire in front of the Michelin site, with banners or inscriptions on the walls evoking the “broken lives” and the “years of toiling to get thrown away”. “Thank you for a great Christmas”quipped the approximately 900 “Children of Michelin” in Cholet, receiving many signs of encouragement from passers-by.
A commission of inquiry requested from the National Assembly
The Macronist deputy for Cholet, Denis Masséglia, himself insulted on Friday by certain angry employees, said he understood these “people who expressed their suffering” by attacking the Minister of Industry. “The State must support them but Michelin must take its responsibilities”he said. “Commitments were requested from Michelin by the government”underlined Marc Ferracci, insisting on “compensation that is dignified, with substantial amounts” and priority reclassifications in the Cholet employment area.
“No, Mr Ferracci, we are not here to fight for a check, we are here to fight for jobs”launched the general secretary of the CGT, Sophie Binet, who came in the morning to meet employees on the Vannes site, where some 300 jobs are also in the spotlight. In Vannes, employees demonstrated at 6:30 a.m. to demand the maintenance of jobs in France, before planting white crosses symbolizing the planned death of their factory. A gathering was also organized in Clermont-Ferrand, where the head office is located.
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“Our flagships like Michelin no longer care about France, since Michelin, out of 130,000 jobs, only has 15,000 left in France”lamented Mme Binet, criticizing “Emmanuel Macron’s industrial policy [qui] aligns with the interests of these multinationals”. “We’re taking on a new wall” because of public policies which have failed to act so that manufacturers make the choice of employees rather than “the choice of profit”added environmentalist MP Clémentine Autain (ex-LFI).
In the National Assembly, environmentalist and “rebellious” deputies requested the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the use of public funds by Michelin, in particular in order to “understand why it is possible to combine massive layoffs, benefits of public aid and record payments to shareholders over the same period”. Marc Ferracci said that the government would publish “in the coming weeks an emergency plan for the automotive industry on a French and European scale”pour “act structurally”. The plan will include measures to support demand and investment, and “trade protection measures which affect the entire sector”.
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