In the midst of turmoil over their future, employees of the Émile Huchet power plant in Saint-Avold, in Moselle, received a visit from Jordan Bardella this Tuesday, May 7, 2024. The president of the National Rally is traveling to Moselle as part of the European election campaign.
For employees of the Émile Huchet plant in Saint-Avold in Moselle, this Tuesday was a day to decide on future social movements. At the meeting, in the form of a giant barbecue, with around a hundred employees, this Tuesday, May 7, 2024, there was a surprise guest. Jordan Bardella, the president of the National Rally, went to the Saint-Avold coal power plant around 1:30 p.m.
For several months, their concerns have been growing. Employees of the Émile Huchet coal power plant have already carried out two social actions, notably on Friday May 3, 2024, in front of the Moselle prefecture, to obtain answers about their future.
Initially, the coal-fired power plant was to cease activity in 2027 but the government wants to bring this date forward to next year. Several projects were mentioned for the retraining of personnel: biomass power plant or hydrogen production. Today, there is radio silence from the State. Total uncertainty for staff and a growing climate of concern.
“The State wants to get out of coal in 2025. For the moment, there is no transition mentioned, no tiling possible. The closure planned for 2027 made it possible to train staff, to prepare for future jobs. There, “Everything is going to be swept away. GazelEnergie is not going to keep us for two years. We fear a redundancy. We rolled up our sleeves to keep the plant running and now we are being thanked.” indignant Thomas About, elected CFDT.
After a first project on a biomass power plant, another on hydrogen was put on the table, before the government distanced itself.
“For the moment, there is no hydrogen consumption on the French side, we are going to sell in Germany but the government tells us that it does not want to decarbonize the Germans. I don’t understand, we are walking on “We’re going to produce and sell well, that amounts to saying that we don’t want to sell Renault cars in Germany.”Sylvain Krebs, CFE-CGC delegate.
The union representatives were received on Monday May 6 at the Moselle sub-prefecture. An initial contact with state representatives on which employees are counting. The prefect and sub-prefect have listened to the concerns and are committed to supporting the staff in the procedures before the ministry and helping them in the negotiations. They also agreed on a meeting between the unions and the sub-prefect through me.
This Tuesday, May 7, a giant barbecue is organized to decide on the follow-up to the social movement. While passing through Moselle as part of his electoral campaign, Jordan Bardella, RN candidate in the European elections, came to chat with the employees there. Some did not wish to speak to him, others wanted to ask their questions.
“I won’t talk to him. Neither me nor my union organization”says Thomas About, CFDT delegate at GazelEnergie.
In place of Jordan Bardella, others would have liked to have a visit from Valérie Hayer, the Renaissance candidate in the European elections, but for the moment the latter has not responded to the unions’ invitation.
“Jordan Bardella highlighted the mistakes made by the majority”explains one of the employees who wishes to remain anonymous. “He is for energy independence and for the production of hydrogen. On his positions concerning Europe, he said that he is for European projects and he gave AirBus as an example. He succeeded in his communication, me , I don’t believe it. The only good thing is that there was a lot of media and I hope the government will act in our favor now.concludes an employee of the coal plant.
With subcontractors, closing the plant without conversion would jeopardize nearly 500 jobs in Moselle East.
