Will there be a Plan B for Bridgestone employees in Bethune?
The government, local elected officials and unions at the Bridgestone plant in Béthune (Pas-de-Calais) intend in any case to put pressure on the management of the Japanese tire giant on Monday.
Objective: to try to avoid the closure of the site, which employs 863 people.
Read also: Closure of Bridgestone in Béthune: have European subsidies been paid in Poland and Hungary?
Less than a week after the shocking announcement of the site's closure, the ministers of Industry, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, and Labor, Élisabeth Borne, are expected from 2 p.m. in Béthune for a two-part meeting at the headquarters of the agglomeration community.
They will first meet with elected officials in the area, including Hauts-de-France President Xavier Bertrand, and Bridgestone's European management - by videoconference - before a second meeting with staff and elected representatives.
Some elected officials, like MP François Ruffin, will be on site to support employees.
5 months of negotiations
Management and unions signed on Friday "an agreement of method" giving five months to the discussion and reopening "
alternative scenarios to closure
", rejoiced Sunday Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who believes that with this delay, "
everything is possible
”.
At the microphone of the "Grand Jury RTL-Le Figaro-LCI", the minister also considered, concerning a possible nationalization, that
it is not "the measure that solves everything".
The hypothesis of a nationalization of Bridgestone therefore seems, at this stage, ruled out.
"
We know that there will be social damage, but we want to be able to discuss other solutions (...) and Bridgestone has decided to give us the time
", greeted CSE lawyer Stéphane Ducrocq, about the method agreement giving five months to discuss.
"
Today, we must clarify the roles, know what the State, the Region, the communities are ready to do concretely
", he explained.
"
We will ask the authorities to put their hands in their pockets, to encourage Bridgestone to invest and modernize this site, abandoned for years
" for the benefit of other factories, added Stéphane Lesix, CFDT secretary of the CSE.
One of the symbols of Bethune
The largest employer in this city of 25,000 inhabitants, the multinational Bridgestone suddenly announced on Wednesday the “
permanent cessation
” of the site's activity by 2021, citing production overcapacity in Europe and competition from low-cost Asian brands.
Read also: Tire Europe in constant struggle to survive in the face of Asian competition
"
Humiliation
", "
blow of the club
", "
assassination
": employees and elected officials from all sides immediately denounced the destruction of one of the "
symbols
" of the city, in a basin undermined by deindustrialisation.
According to the CGT, up to “
5,000 families would be impacted with subcontractors
”.
The announcement of the closure aroused unanimous indignation from the political class and anger roared even the government, which regretted a "
betrayal of trust
".
"
What is unacceptable (...) is not to have opened the discussion upstream
", said Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
"
We knew that the factory was in decline
" and the authorities had already invited "
the management to the table of discussions
".
Because the plant, which produces small-caliber tires for cars, is according to Bridgestone "
the least efficient
" among ten of its European sites.
In a decade, its workforce has fallen by 40%, as its production volumes.
“
It was written!
For years we have been saying that we must invest, make large-caliber tires with high added value, to remain competitive!
The management refuses and puts millions in Poland
”, protests Stéphane Lesix (CFDT).
Showdown between the company and the authorities
The authorities must now "
show Bridgestone that they have better interest in investing finally, rather than leaving
", both "
for their image
" and "
their checkbook
", pleaded Sunday the president of Hauts-de-France Xavier Bertrand on Europe 1. We must "
try what happened in 2013
" for the plant in Bari (Italy) promised to be closed, he proposed: after a "
terrible showdown
", the The State “
agreed to finance a very large part of the necessary investments
” and “
60% of jobs have been maintained
”.
If this fails, the government considers reindustrializing the site and wants a "
coherent and acceptable solution
" for each worker.
Some elected officials are campaigning for Bridgestone to “
reimburse
” the recently paid public aid, including 1.8 million euros from CICE, or regional aid up to 620,000 euros.
“
In the first round, Brigdestone dropped everything, it was violent. But when the boxer opposite knows how to move away, he can last five rounds. And we are still in the ring, with the hope of plan B!
», Assures the UDI mayor of Béthune Olivier Gacquerre. He salutes the “
sacred
” and “
complete
” union of elected officials, unions and residents. Sunday at 6 p.m., a petition posted online by the town hall collected some 37,000 signatures.