“Sad” and “angry”, the employees of the large Michelin factory in Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) voted on Tuesday for the strike, after the announcement of the closure of the site by the management of the group, which causes the “collapse” of tire sales for trucks and vans.
The French tire giant announced to employees on Tuesday morning the closure before 2026 of its sites in Cholet and Vannes (Morbihan), which have a total of 1,254 employees in these factories in western France.
In Cholet, “they put the 900 employees in a room like cows in the slaughterhouse and announced that it was over,” Morgane Royer, an employee for “almost 10 years” at Michelin and union representative, told AFP. SOUTH.
Cholet employees voted for the strike and blocked the site shortly after management's announcements. In any case, it had planned to stop production until November 13.
“It’s the thug version of capitalism,” condemned the mayor of Cholet, Gilles Bourdouleix (various right) in front of the employees. “Obviously, the desire for years was to let the situation degenerate and then arrive at this brutal decision,” he denounced.
In Vannes (Morbihan), “the announcement, made by the director, was greeted with great silence. Everyone blames the blow”, testified Eric Boisgard, employee since 2004 and former CGT union delegate.
Employees had feared these announcements for several weeks. Discussions with the unions had been interrupted.
For the group's first union, the CFE-CGC, these closures are “a unilateral, brutal and poorly anticipated decision”, condemned its central union delegate José Tarantini, to AFP.
“It is not a surprise given the industrial activity figures which were only decreasing, and we understand that there could be restructuring, which does not mean site closure,” underlined Mr. Tarantini .
“Today, we are closing two sites and putting more than 1,200 employees out of work so that Michelin can make more profits and give more dividends to its shareholders,” protested CGT central union delegate Romain Baciak.
– Market slowdown –
Michelin is going through a difficult year with the slowdown in the new vehicle market and Asian competition.
“It is the collapse of activity that has caused this situation, and I want to tell all these employees that we will not leave anyone behind,” Michelin CEO Florent Menegaux said in an interview with the AFP.
Michelin had already significantly reduced its footprint in France, its first country. With Poitiers, Toul, Joué-lès-Tours and La Roche-sur-Yon, it will have closed six factories in twenty years.
The Minister of Industry Marc Ferracci reacted on Tuesday by asking for “an exemplary support plan for employees and territories”.
Bibendum is not the only one who coughs. The sharp slowdown in the automobile market is causing serious difficulties for European equipment manufacturers and site closures are continuing.
According to Michelin, these two new closures have become “inevitable” due to Asian competition in van and heavy goods vehicle tires, sectors of the Cholet and Vannes factories.
The CEO of Michelin also blames a “slow deterioration of competitiveness” in Europe, particularly linked to energy costs, which prevents exports.
The company is also preparing to close two factories in Germany by 2025.
The group's CFDT estimated in a press release that “Michelin alone decided on the extreme solution”, while other possibilities existed for Cholet and Vannes.
SUD for its part condemned “an unprecedented social betrayal” and “one of the greatest social disasters in the history of the company”.
– “Sans perspective” –
The Cholet factory employs 955 employees, who mainly manufacture small tires for light trucks, a segment in “significant decline” in Europe “with no prospect of recovery”, explains Michelin.
The Vannes site has 299 employees, who mainly produce metal cables for heavy-duty tires.
Michelin undertakes to “support each of the employees concerned with tailor-made solutions”, job offers in other companies or within the group, or early retirement.
He also promises to “participate in the creation of at least as many jobs as those eliminated” in the region, as he did in La Roche-sur-Yon, where 635 jobs were created in four years for 613 jobs eliminated, according to the group.
