The American tire giant Goodyear was condemned Thursday by the industrial tribunals of Amiens for the unfair dismissal of 832 of its former employees of its factory in Amiens-Nord, closed in January 2014 and which then employed 1,143 people, learned AFP from consistent sources.
This conviction for " dismissal without valid economic reason " was hailed to AFP as a " huge victory " by the employees' lawyer, Fiodor Rilov, the management taking " act " of his side of this judgment and indicating " reserve the right to appeal ”. The total amount of damages to be paid was not immediately available. The court nevertheless asked for a provisional execution of this judgment, according to Mr. Rilov.
Read also: 832 former Goodyear employees again before the industrial tribunal
At the so-called January 28 tiebreaker hearing, which about 550 people attended, Me Rilov insisted on the global operating profits at the time of the Goodyear group, amounting to $ 1.7 billion.
He considered this affair as " emblematic of the refusal of workers to let themselves be crushed during the dismantling of their work tool while their employer makes colossal profits ".
“ I am happy and proud of the victory obtained today. It will not give back work to those who have remained on the side of the road, who will not restore social and human dramas (...) But it is a victory that gives us back our dignity in the face of a multinational that we despised and humiliated us, ”said Evelyne Becker, former CGT delegate for the company, before the court where only a few employees had gone. " Above all, this victory will allow us to move on to something else ."
