Marelli Factory Closure Negotiations: Unions Put Pressure for Better Terms

2023-11-17 08:32:18

“All” of the 167 employees at the Marelli factory in Argentan (Orne) walked off the job on Thursday in order to put pressure on the ongoing negotiations with management with a view to closing the site, we learned from the unions. .

The logo of the Italian multinational Magneti Marelli, on October 22, 2018 in Corbetta, near Milan, Italy. ( AFP / MIGUEL MEDINA )

The automotive supplier Marelli announced in October the upcoming closure of two factories, in Argentan (Orne) and Saint-Julien-du-Sault (Yonne), meaning the loss of nearly 300 jobs.

“The negotiations have progressed (compared to the previous days of negotiations, editor’s note) because we blocked the factory, even if the negotiations are far from over,” declared Pascal Beauvais, spokesperson for the inter-union (CGT, CFDT and CFE-CGC).

“These are difficult negotiations, but we are doing it for the employees. We would like to do without it, but we are obliged to impose a balance of power,” added the trade unionist.

Thursday morning, around a hundred employees were in the factory courtyard, grouped behind a banner to welcome the representative of the CEO of the Marelli group and members of management: “Marelli: how much is worth to KKR (the holding company that owns Marelli , Editor’s note) the elimination of 167 jobs???”.

Since October 12, unions and management have negotiated the employment protection plan (PSE) every Thursday with a view to closing the site on January 31, 2024.

“Where am I going to work? With their retirement at 64 I will have to work for 10 years, but there is no more work here,” worried Nathalie Garcia Colin, 53, machining worker, tears in my eyes. “We agreed to go from 35 hours to 38.75 hours paid 35 and no longer paid us during breaks. It was to be + competitive +”, she recalled.

The inter-union demanded alignment with the closure agreements negotiated by KKR in Italy, i.e. 36 months of salaries.

On the Saint-Julien-du-Sault site, the strike launched on November 9 ended on Wednesday, following an agreement reached the day before between management and the CFTC and CFDT unions.

The unions in Saint-Julien did not wish to reveal the terms of this agreement, confirmed by management.

They denounced a relocation of production planned “for a long time”, the parts produced in Saint-Julien will henceforth be on Moroccan and Spanish sites, according to the unions, which criticized “speculative layoffs” on the part of the owned group by the American investment fund KKR.

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