PSA Peugeot Citroen is scrapping the night shift at its Sochaux factory from 2 February, a union official has said.

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The move was announced during a works council meeting on Tuesday as the site in eastern France started up again after a month’s closure, CGT union secretary Bruno Lemerle told Reuters. A PSA spokesman declined to comment to the news agency; the automaker’s London office said it was trying to get information direct from the plant.


PSA employee representatives would be able to comment on the plans at another extraordinary meeting to be held on Friday, Lemerle told the news agency.


The source said 900 temporary workers and employees on fixed term contracts would lose their jobs, with 1,200 employees currently on the night shift transferring to work during the day. The site employs 12,000 .


The site would also stop production for six days in January, the source told Reuters, although employees would still be paid for those days.

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The Les Echos newspaper in an unsourced report on Wednesday said PSA was also considering further measures at its Rennes site, where in November it announced a voluntary redundancy plan for 850 executives and professional workers as well as the redeployment of around 900 workers to other group sites.


Also on Tuesday, Renault COO Patrick Pelata said at a dealer event in France the company had achieved its goal of cutting stocks of unsold vehicles to end-2007 levels by the end of 2008.


PSA announced on Monday that Jean-Luc Vergne, executive vice president, human resources and a member of the executive committee had decided to leave the group at the end of February, after leading the salary negotiations for 2009 and launching the voluntary separation plan approved by unions on 2 December.


Some French reports said Vergne was planning to retire.