The American-Spanish group Ferroglobe, specialist in silicon, announced Monday during a European works council the elimination of 350 jobs in France within its subsidiary FerroPem, we learned Tuesday from the unions.
Its management, which advances a "
lack of competitiveness
", intends to eliminate all the positions of the factories located in La Léchère (Savoie) and Livet-et-Gavet (Isère), denounces Éric Granata, secretary general of the departmental union of the CGT unions in Savoie.
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These two factories would be “
put on hold
” and not closed.
“
Because who says closure, says depollution of these factories.
At the very least, it is an investment of 30 million euros that Ferroglobe obviously does not wish to make,
”points out the trade unionist.
In total, 221 jobs will be cut at the La Léchère site and 131 at the Livet-et-Gavet plant.
Ferroglobe owns through FerroPem four other factories in France which are not threatened.
“
We want jobs to be maintained.
We ask the management not to block takeover projects
, "insists Walter Wlodarczyk, CGT union delegate for the La Léchère site, deploring"
a web of contradictions
".
“
It is a closed vision that we are contesting.
The potential and profitability of these factories is not to be demonstrated,
”he adds.
“
It is a hard blow for all the workers at the Livet-et-Gavet factory.
There will not be much left in our valley, where FerroPem had been established for decades,
”reacted Gilbert Dupont, the unlicensed mayor of the town.
In Savoie, a hundred people gathered Tuesday afternoon in front of the Chambéry courthouse to protest against this decision, while a hearing involving Ferroglobe was held at the same time.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Savoy federation of the PCF lamented that the group "is
sacrificing its factories in the capitalist monopoly
".
Declining demand and falling prices
In early October, the unions expressed their concerns after the announcement of a reflection on a restructuring plan within Ferroglobe due to economic difficulties.
Two months later, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the Secretary of State for the Economy, called on Ferroglobe to “assume
its responsibilities
” and to “
support its French subsidiary
” before the National Assembly.
FerroPem has suffered a 25% drop in demand and a 30% drop in prices since the start of 2018 due to competition from Chinese silicon, weakening its financial position and threatening the payment of its suppliers.