Social plan at Michelin and Auchan: Michel Barnier “disagrees”, wonders “where has the public money gone” which was given to these groups

These are announcements that surprised a large number of employees. At the start of the week, the Auchan and Michelin groups both announced particularly important social plans. On the one hand, the French tire giant announced to employees the closure before 2026 of its sites in Cholet and Vannes (Morbihan), which have a total of 1,254 employees. As for Auchan, no less than 2,400 jobs are threatened, while at the start of 2024, the group announced the purchase of several dozen Casino stores.

These announcements did not leave the government unmoved: this Tuesday, November 5, Prime Minister Michel Barnier expressed his “disagreement”, explaining that he had met the CEO of the Michelin group, Florent Menegaux, “a few days ago”. “I am concerned to know what we did in these groups with the public money that we gave them,” commented the head of government in the National Assembly. The Minister of Industry Marc Ferracci, for his part, asked for “an exemplary support plan for employees and territories”.

At Michelin, a “unilateral” decision?

The management of the French giant justifies its decision by explaining that Michelin was 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. 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.

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According to 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. “We understand that there may 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.

At Auchan, a social plan deemed “catastrophic”

Long considered one of the best-performing players at the social level in mass distribution, Auchan has had a series of bad economic years, and its holding company Elo Groupe announced in July a net loss of nearly a billion euros on sales. first six months of 2024. Several factors explain Auchan's difficulties in France: firstly its market share, at 9.1% at the last count, which makes it the fifth player in the French market, far behind the leader E. Leclerc (24.1%). In addition, Auchan operates on an integrated model – it owns its stores – unlike brands like E.Leclerc and Intermarché which bring together independents. This integrated model generates higher operating costs.

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Management hopes to limit the number of redundancies through support for the employees concerned, retraining, reclassification leave and a voluntary departure plan. It also provides for the creation of 114 positions in “drive” activities (recovery of online purchases) and 205 within support functions.

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On the side of the social partners, the announcement leaves a bitter taste: “It's catastrophic. It will leave many, many employees in difficulty, families. It's shocking, scandalous”, was indignant Franck Martineau, FO Auchan Retail union representative. The social plan must be “up to the sacrifice required of employees, with a maximum of reclassification”, underlined Gilles Martin, CFDT Groupe Auchan-France delegate. The unions, pointing out the lack of “long-term strategy” from management, are pessimistic about the chances of avoiding the “loss” of jobs. Negotiations must continue “next week”, after the opening of the social plan.