the major fears displayed by employees

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On Wednesday October 16, 2024, Airbus Defense and Space revealed its intention to cut “up to 2,500 positions” in Europe.

It will ultimately be a little less, with 2,043 jobs affected. But at Toulouseconcerns remain high. Indeed, management confirmed yesterday the figure given by the unions: 424 positions or nearly one in twelve jobs, will disappear from the Pink City site, where more than 5,000 people work on fixed-term or permanent contracts.

Mobilization on the Palays site

Friday December 6, 2024, the inter-union CGT-WHAT organized a gathering on the Toulouse site, at 31 rue des Cosmonautes in Montaudran. Around fifty workers were present… and almost as many local elected officialsall from the left, came to defend the jobs and know-how of this Toulouse industrial flagship.

So, more than half of the deputies of Haute-Garonne had made the trip: the Insoumis Hadrien Clouet (1st constituency), Anne Stambach-Terrenoir (2nd) and François Piquemal (4th), the ecologist Christine Arrighi (9th) and finally the socialists Arnaud Simion (6th) and Jacques Oberti (10th ). And other officials were present: Christophe Lubac, mayor of Ramonville (but also vice-president of Sicoval and member of CD 31) or even regional councilor Jérôme Monamy and opposition municipal representative Antoine Maurice.

“Savings at the expense of employees are not possible in a market that is doing so well. And then it’s a cutting-edge industry, it’s about preserving know-how,” says MP Anne Stambach-Terrenoir.

“I fear that there will be a loss of skills again: we have already experienced a period of stormy management during the pandemic and it seems that no one has learned the consequences. And then we also defend values! Airbus is not experiencing financial difficulties, this decision can only be misunderstood.”

No layoffs, really?

THE majority unions which are the CFE-CGC, Force Ouvrière, the CFDT and the CFTC, were not present. “We are not calling for demonstrations at this stage,” confirms Thierry Préfol, central union delegate of the CFE-CGC. In fact, the union believes that it has already obtained a first victory: management's commitment to ensuring that there is no no redundancies nor site closures.

An element that the CGT contests: “We were also there during the discussions: management refused and explained that they did not know or master the terms. They made a promise, not a firm commitment! », refutes Sébastien Rostan, central union delegate of the CGT.

“In practice we have layoffs. We have some damage“, he continues. “People are losing their jobs: not necessarily permanent contracts but fixed-term contracts and temporary workers being terminated? They matter. And we are also worried about subcontractorsthere are perhaps a thousand on the site,” he adds.

Unions united in their demands

“It’s a shame that the CFE-CGC is not there! » deplores Benoît Thiébault, general secretary of the CGT Airbus Defense & Space Toulouse. “ Basically, we all agree. We can see that they are asking the same questions as us,” he adds.

“Are these workforce reductions compatible with the workload plan for the years to come, when Space Systems' order book is full? What is the strategic vision of the company? What danger of falling away do we take by reducing the R&D effort? Is management considering setting up a PSE in France? », asked the CFE-CGC yesterday, which considers that management must “clarify its plan”.

There therefore ends the convergence with the CGT, which for its part demands the pure and simple elimination of this “workforce adaptation plan” aimed “to reduce the company’s fixed cost base”, according to Airbus. The social plan itself is part of a larger Proton transformation plan, with the objective of “recovering the economic situation of the company and improving its competitiveness.

“We fear burnout”

In addition to fearing a strong loss of skillsthe unions fear, here too unanimously, the deterioration of their working conditions : overload, stress, pressure, and ultimately, explosion of burn-out. “We are worried about those who will stay… There is already great suffering at work,” indicates Benoît Thiébault.

Thus, the union organizations will scrutinize the way in which the company will carry out its transformation plan. The CFE-CGC insists on its wish to see workforce reductions carried out “with respect for employees”, “on a voluntary basis” and “consistent with the load plan”.

A European plan

In addition to the 424 positions eliminated in Toulouse, 116 other jobs are concerned on the other French Airbus D&S site, located Elancourtin the Paris region. In total, these are 540 positions which will disappear in France.

France is the second country most affected by this European social plan: the management of the group's space division indicated that 689 positions will be cut in Germany477 in the United Kingdom, 303 in Spain and 34 in other countries.

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