PSA Peugeot Citroen says 340 staff from its Aulnay plant have temporarily transferred to the Poissy factory in a bid to boost daily production hit by strike action at the North-East Paris site.
A walkout orchestrated mainly by PSA’s hard-line CGT union has seen production at Aulnay – slated to close by the automaker next year – plummet to a low of around 30 vehicles per day – but the manufacturer has offered temporary work to the 340 staff as it looks to return to normal.
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“Poissy has raised its normal production – it was 35 vehicles and now it is is 45 – it is the line producing the C3 and DS3,” a PSA spokeswoman told just-auto from Paris. “The Poissy plant has organised itself to raise production in order to be able to produce the cars that should have been produced in Aulnay.
“This is until the end of July and then we will see. There have been some temporary moves with people changing positions from one plant to another. We still aim to stop production in Aulnay in 2014.”
PSA also cleared up previous reports that closing the Aulnay site could lead to around 11,200 redundancies ooccurring and not the previous 8,000 announced.
“The 11,200 [jobs] was based on a previous redundancy plan,” said the spokeswoman. “It was based on voluntary departures and ended in 2012.”
Strikers from the CGT union insist they will maintain their industrial action at Aulnay despite a ruling from the Paris High Court last week to reject a legal challenge to the closure and approval by the majority of PSA’s other unions for the plan.
“The members of the CCE [Works Council], they can vote ten, 100, 1,000 times [on] the shameful redundancy plan,” said CGT union delegate, Jean-Pierre Mercier. “Production is still paralysed, the strike has energy and force and we will continue until we obtain satisfaction.
“If the management really does not propose an acceptable agreement, of course we will make surprise actions. It is a combative management that wants to crush workers to protect the profits of its shareholders.”
