This Thursday, November 14, on Allée des Sablons in Châteauroux, around twenty people blocked access to the site in front of the Eurostyle factory. When some chat in low voices, others welcome new colleagues who have come out of the buildings to join the movement with an affectionate joke. Way to relax the atmosphere a little, in a general context hardly conducive to celebrations.
“A warning shot”, what next?
French automotive subcontracting group, the GMD company, which, in Indre, employs more than 500 people across three sites (two Eurostyle Systems factories in Châteauroux and the Eurocast foundry in Poinçonnet), is weighed down by financial difficulties and about to be redeemed.
To date, two offers have been submitted by the investment fund Montyon Capital and the company Sanarco. The first, owned by billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin, seems to hold the rope. But for now, despite several meetings between the unions of the GMD group and the leaders of the potential buyer, the latter have not convinced. “Montyon Capital gave us no information, no guarantee, recalls Thibault Decharraud, CGT Eurostyle union delegate. They just told us what a recovery would mean in terms of financial structure, for the rest we have nothing, no industrial project. This walkout is a warning shot, a way of expressing our concern about job guarantees in a general context which does not speak in our favor. The automobile market is struggling. »
Further on, fears turn to fatalism. Hands in his pockets, this employee “27 years of box” seems to know the song. “We had already experienced this situation in 2009 when Eurostyle was taken over by GMD, but at the time we had better visibility, and there was work. Today, this is no longer the case. We know very well how it’s going to go…” For him, a takeover of the company would necessarily amount to a loss of positions.
“Some people live in a world of Care Bears”
A position shared by one of his colleagues, to his right, who also wishes to remain anonymous: “Pierre-Édouard Stérin is a billionaire who knows nothing about the industry, and who has already announced that he wants to relocate production abroad. Even though a lot of people here seem to live in a world of Care Bears, we know very well what that means. »
Also present on site, union representatives from the Pyrex factory were keen to lend a hand to GMD employees. “Their situation affects us. We're all in the same boat. The current situation is scary, there is nothing to reassure. If we don't move now, we won't move again. »
According to the unions, negotiations are still continuing, although, for the moment, no further meetings with Montyon capital are planned. According to the unions, Montyon Capital would like “finalize the buyout at the end of the year”.
