Belfort (AFP)
About 2,600 people marched Saturday afternoon in support of employees of the Belfort site of General Electric, covered by a social plan against a background of union division, said an AFP correspondent.
The parade of 2,600 people, according to the count of the prefecture, began at around 14H30 in the rain to arrive about 45 minutes later in front of the General Electric plant, where were also present some 250 "yellow vests" . The demonstration was dispersed before 16H00 while a delegation of elected and union delegates was received at the prefecture.
In addition to the presence of local elected officials, the insubordinate leader of France, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, participated, without making a statement, at the event. On Twitter, he felt that General Electric was "a flagship of our industry needed to achieve the energy transition that #Macron and his friends have abandoned."
The rally began with the CGT's decision not to join the parade. The union preferred to return, on its side, to the picket line in front of the factory and dissociate itself from the Southern unions and CFE-CGC accused by some of being "sold" because of discussions with the management.
It is "the employees and only employees who will make this choice to enter into negotiations (...)" including a "extension of the time of the negotiation of the social plan with 300 jobs saved," said the delegate CFE-CGC Philippe Petitcolin, before the departure of the event, warning against "the commitments of GE (which) are worth nothing at all".
Employees are expected to vote Monday morning, in a show of hands, on two new management plan options proposed by management: one reducing by 111 posts the initial target of 792 job cuts, the other reducing it by 307 posts, but in return for a "plan to reduce costs and improve the performance of the site".
If employees rejected Monday the second option, "we would be led to agree the minimum plan is less comfortable than saving 300 jobs," warned in an interview with East Republican Patrick Mafféïs, vice president of operations GE Power Europe, which does not wish to "project itself into this situation" and intends to reach an agreement with the three trade union organizations.
The production plants for gas turbines in Belfort and the Bourogne site (Territoire-de-Belfort) have now been stuck for about ten days.
"Our wish is that there should be no forced departure, that we come up with measures of ages, with voluntary departures to make that nobody remains on the side of the road", for his part declares Mayor of Belfort, Damien Meslot, referring to "significant progress that is not yet sufficient".
On June 22, about 5,000 people had already demonstrated in Belfort against the "roller coaster" of General Electric, which employs some 4,300 employees in Belfort, including 1,800 in the gas turbine entity, targeted mainly by the social plan.
© 2019 AFP