Michelin, ArcelorMittal, Auchan, MA France… Social plans have been multiplying for several weeks in France, affecting all regions. Faced with this situation, the CGT called on Wednesday “employees to go on strike and occupy their factories”.
While the CGT announced at the beginning of November nearly 200 social plans and 150,000 jobs threatened by a “violent industrial bloodletting”, 286 job cut plans have been in preparation since September 2023. In total, 300,000 jobs are threatened by “this wave of business failures,” indicates the union on its site.
The most affected sectors
Still according to information from the CGT, the sectors most affected by these job cuts are metallurgy, commerce, the public and associative sector, banks and insurance as well as chemicals.
“Each job lost has domino effects on subcontractors, service providers and the entire local economic ecosystem. These layoff plans do not only erase jobs, they empty regions of their attractiveness, their local commerce…”, affirms the CGT which calls for the mobilization of “all employees” on December 12 to “defend their jobs and the industry”.
“Employee mobilization always changes the situation”
The general secretary of the CGT Sophie Binet sounded the alarm on Wednesday, predicting a “very strong acceleration in the deterioration of the situation” in terms of social plans, mainly in industry but also in other sectors.
“There is an extremely fatalistic discourse which is maintained”, judged Sophie Binet, but “the mobilization of employees always changes the situation, there is never anything inevitable in terms of employment”. “There is nothing worse than unemployment. Behind these figures, these 300 devastated territories, lives and families who are devastated by unemployment,” she insisted.
Learn more about social plans
Asked about the position of the inter-union on the day of December 12 and the desire of other union organizations to join this mobilization, Sophie Binet specified that this day was “open to all”. “I hope it expands,” she said.
“Today, the mobilizations are united in the companies which are organizing against job cuts and each time there is a united inter-union” on the sites concerned, she assured.
