Industry Minister Marc Ferracci admitted on Saturday that he feared likely new announcements very soon.
Industry Minister Marc Ferracci says he expects new announcements of factory closures in France “in the coming weeks and months. There are a certain number of sectors which are in a worrying situation”noted Marc Ferracci at the microphone of France Inter on Saturday, citing chemistry, automobiles and metallurgy.
These difficulties are notably due to “very strong international competition, not always very fair because it is very subsidized in China and the United States”.
The minister booed in Cholet
Closures of industrial sites will affect “thousands of jobs”recognized the minister, ensuring that the government “was fighting” pour “try to find private buyers” and, where applicable, “best support for employees and the revitalization of sites”.
Marc Ferracci thus mentioned the Michelin file, which announced, on Tuesday, the closure by early 2026 of its Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) and Vannes (Morbihan) sites, employing 1,254 employees, due to competition. low-cost Asian tires and rising energy prices in Europe.
Marc Ferracci, booed during a visit to Cholet on Friday, said he had expected this type of reaction, “because the employees are upset, angry and we can understand it, because the way the announcement was made was not a dignified way, he judges. They were informed very late, Michelin management did not come to make the announcement directly, face to face.”
Supporting the auto industry
“Our commitment, and also that of Michelin, is that no one is left without a solution in this extremely difficult matter”continued Marc Ferracci. He assures that the government wishes “create the conditions so that negotiations are favorable to employees and, in particular, that they can find reclassifications in the territory”.
The minister also pleaded for an emergency plan to support the automobile industry on a European scale, mentioning several avenues such as an ecological bonus on a continental scale or a common loan, in order to finance investments.
Draft social plan in Auchan
The comments made on Saturday by the Minister of Industry, Marc Ferracci, confirm a gloomy start to the week on the employment front. Because as of Tuesday, in addition to Michelin's announcements relating to the upcoming closure of two factories (read opposite), it was the distributor Auchan which presented its draft social plan, which should affect 2,389 jobs in France and accompanied by the closure of around ten stores.
An announcement which immediately aroused great emotion and strong anger on the sites concerned. Remember that in the mass distribution sector, a PSE is also underway at the Saint-Etienne Casino group, where more than 3,000 jobs could be affected.
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