Employees of the Bombardier plant in Crespin (North) blocked the arrival of spare parts on Monday. 200 to 300, they intended to protest against the management's proposal to work an additional week to "make up" for the closure during confinement.
Stopped in mid-March, this factory of the Canadian railway manufacturer resumed production on May 11. To make up for the delay due to confinement, the management plans to shorten the employees' vacations. According to the CFDT, they would lose a total of two weeks of rest, working on their RTTs which would be paid instead of being put down.
A double paid week increased by a bonus
The decision is difficult to pass in this factory, the main industrial railway site in France, with 1,500 employees and around 400 to 500 temporary workers. The factory, which achieved a turnover of 813 million euros last year, has full order books.
The unions criticize Bombardier for not having compensated during the confinement for the 16% of wages lost by workers put on partial unemployment. And according to them, the efforts requested aim to “save the accounts of a future ex-employer. Bombardier announced in February the sale of its Transportation (rail) branch to the French group Alstom and to the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ).
Management claims to have offered to pay double the week of catch-up scheduled for late July, in addition to an exceptional premium of 200 euros. This additional week, she said, "would deliver an Ile-de-France and a Régio 2N in addition." Delays in deliveries due to the health crisis for Ile-de-France are estimated at 9 Francilien trains for the Saint-Lazare network and 2 Régio2N trains for the Montparnasse network.
