To all extents and purposes the show of solidarity this week by the plethora of unions involved in the potential General Motors/PSA alliance has been impressive.
The right noises have been made and concerns expressed – heads gravely shaken at the possible enormity of it all – particularly when it comes to the potential of job losses and plant closures.
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The Confederation du Travail (CGT), CFE-CGC and Force Ouvriere bodies on the French side for PSA, Unite across the English Channel for Vauxhall and the Opel Works Council, have all sung resolutely from the same hymn sheet in expressing a collective nervousness that the alliance will see jobs eroded and plants shut.
But despite all this comradely brotherhood from the labour bodies there is at least a tone of realism – quietly spoken – from some of them. The looming spectre of overcapacity – some would argue it is already present at the feast – is refusing to go away – a fact at least one highly-placed union source in Germany acknowledges.
The reliable German source – talking to just-auto on condition its identity was not revealed – conceded both Opel and PSA had similar products but chronically under-worked factories. “Some plants in PSA are utilised less than 70%” he confided.
If that is the trend – and it surely must be – talk of an alliance will surely only accelerate that trend leaving the unions in a state of limbo and enormous uncertainty in a time when European unemployment – apart from Germany – is remaining stubbornly high.
“We feel a lot of things can happen but we don’t know what,” said the German union source. “This is a normal situation [for us], this kind of uncertainty.
And that uncertainty could breed a new but possibly damaging threat to all the talk of pan-European union solidarity in the guise of what happens to the prized supply chain.
PSA division Faurecia just happens to be one of the world’s largest component makers – Opel has an element of its own parts production – could that be swallowed by the French in a bid to achieve rationalisation and economy of scale?
In that case, will the hitherto solid union coherence start to crack? CGT liaison member at the CGT, Bruno Lemerle, told me from France. ” “It is not a question of opposing the workers of different countries, but to defend ourselves to see what we can keep.”
All well and good but if it comes to protecting their vested interests could the unions embark on a major struggle – against each other – in order to secure work especially in component making?
There are so many known unknowns that even next week’s Paris pow-wow of PSA labour bodies – to be followed by a remarkable get-together of French, German and British unions – may not necessarily shed light on the situation or adopt a common approach particularly when it comes to the supply chain impact of any alliance.
“There are sales contracts with Tier 1 [suppliers] and beyond them, the cascade of Tier 2 and Tier 3s,” said Lemerle. “We don’t know what the consequences are.”
Those consequences have been fairly swept under the French carpet from the politicans, who have issued some pretty bland statements concerning any fallout from the proposed PSA/GM tie-up. There doesn’t appear much chance of securing clarity.
The country is at fever pitch ahead of imminent French Presidential elections and any suggestion of a jobs cull in the highly-emotive domestic auto industry is met with nervous attempts at insistence that no employment effect will be felt from an alliance.
Take this from French Industry Minister Eric Besson in an email sent to just-auto today from Paris. “I was assured by PSA CEO Philippe Varin, this partnership will be favourable to PSA in France,” he trilled.
“The agreement concluded with General Motors does not concern production and will respect in total the operational [business] of both manufacturers. PSA will clearly remain French, the Peugeot family will firmly stay as the primary shareholder.”
Nice words – but the upcoming flurry of union meetings may well result in a different reaction from the powerful labour bodies – that is if they haven’t started throwing up the barricades around their own vested interest fiefdoms first.
