Lille (AFP)
Employees of the Renault factory in Maubeuge (North) on strike since Friday resumed work Wednesday, "reassured" after the announcements of the car manufacturer and the government, we learned from union sources.
"We have had reassuring news which we have communicated to employees, even if we remain suspicious. We have won the battle, but we have not won the war," Yannick Charlesege (CFTC) told AFP. "Following commitments from Renault and the government, employees have decided to resume activity on the Maubeuge site," confirmed Jérôme Delvaux (CGT).
In financial difficulty and victim of the collapse of the automotive market, Renault had indeed announced Friday the loss of 15,000 jobs worldwide, including 4,600 in France, with voluntary departures and without layoffs, as part of its economic plan more than 2 billion euros, until 2023.
The government approved on Tuesday a guaranteed loan of 5 billion euros to help the car manufacturer Renault to overcome the coronavirus crisis. The Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire was pleased to have obtained, in return, the preservation of employment and industrial capacity on the Maubeuge site (North).
Of Renault's 14 industrial sites in France, only one is definitely doomed to closure, that of Choisy-le-Roi (Val-de-Marne) whose employees have been on strike since Tuesday against the transfer of activity recycling planned to Flins (Yvelines).
A spontaneous demonstration gathering the striking workers of the Choisy site, in the presence of the leader of the CGT Philippe Martinez, took place in the city on Wednesday.
© 2020 AFP