French unions are not expecting the full report from the expert mandated by law to examine PSA Peugeot Citroen’s plan to axe up to 8,000 jobs and close its Aulnay plant, to be ready before the second half of November.
PSA’s radical plan to make thousands of workers redundant has caused uproar in France, with President Hollande denouncing it as ‘unacceptable’ and the automaker’s CEO, Philippe Varin, being summoned several times to various Paris ministries to explain the jobs reduction rationale.
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The CFE-CGC union representing white collar workers within PSA, has so far taken a more pragmatic view than some of its more militant blue-collar counterparts, but was nonetheless part of a 3,000-strong demonstration in front of the manufacturer’s prestigious headquarters in the French capital yesterday (25 July).
PSA is to sell and lease back its famous building at 69-81 avenue de la Grande Armee – some 700m from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris – but unions nonetheless descended on the address yesterday to vent their fury at the huge job cuts.
“People of the Group in the Paris region, but also people from the regions demonstrated in the avenue de la Grande Armee – there were more than 3,000,” CFE-CGC central union delegate, Jacques Mazzolini, told just-auto from PSA’s site at Sochaux in eastern France.
“I think [the expert’s report] will not be done until the second half of November as there is a lot of work to do [on this] extremely heavy dossier, it is extremely complex.”
The expert is part of the Alpha Secafi group based in Paris and his economic and accountancy report will be paid for by PSA.
Part of the reason for the long lead-in time until the final report is the imminent arrival of France’s holiday season that could see some automotive plants start to shut down for their annual summer break, from tomorrow (27 July).
Mazzolini said he had met French Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault and Economics Redevelopment Minister, Arnaud Montebourg, last week to discuss PSA’s plans, along with several other unions.
The French government outlined a financial stimulus package yesterday, aimed at generating more interest in electric and hybrid vehicles.
