“The beginning of a violent industrial bloodletting”, the rise in unemployment is ” inevitable “. The observation made by Sophie Binet, this November 10 in an interview with La Tribune Sunday, is clear: social plans and closures of industrial sites will multiply, after the announcements this week from Michelin and Auchan. The general secretary of the CGT “estimates that more than 150,000 jobs will disappear, probably more”. And this will have a “domino effect throughout the subcontracting chain”.
Read also: NARRATIVE. “Michelin assassin”, “broken lives”: a week of anger in Cholet and Vannes
Sophie Binet wants a “moratorium” on layoffs
“When I met Michel Barnier, who arrived in Matignon, I presented him with a list of more than 180 social plans, which we identified. Today, this list is close to 200. And there will be others,” warns the union leader. According to Sophie Binet, the “bleeding” will hit “all sectors”, and is “due each time to the same strategy of these companies”. Namely “always increase margins”, on the one hand, and “distribute ever more profits to shareholders”, on the other hand.
The CGT demands a “real industrial policy” in government. And pleads for aid to businesses to be conditional on maintaining employment. A moratorium on layoffs for “preserve industrial tools” is also claimed.
“Thousands of jobs” threatened, warns the minister
In the meantime, the government seems to be predicting future job losses. “There will probably be announcements of site closures in the coming weeks and months,” warned the Minister of Industry, Marc Ferracci, at the microphone of France Inter SATURDAY. The social report “will be counted in thousands of jobs”.
Michelin, the French tire giant, announced on November 5 the closure before 2026 of the Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) and Vannes (Morbihan) sites, which have a total of 1,254 employees.
The CGT demands for this group a “moratorium” specific. The group “closes sites to finance the cost of capital”, after “dividend payment records”, denounces Sophie Binet in her interview with La Tribune Sunday.
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