In Belfort, employees and unions do not expect to be defeated. After a first action Monday, they will try again to prevent the meeting of information on the social plan provided by General Electric. A prerequisite yet mandatory for the group that considers some 1,050 job cuts in France.
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"It is essential for us that this meeting does not take place because it launches the process that leads to the execution of the plan of abolition of posts", confirms the microphone of Europe 1 Alexis Sesma, member of the union SUD. And to call "all employees to mobilize". "We are at war against a direction," he insists. On Monday, several hundred employees had already prevented the holding of a first meeting.
"We understand that the group is in trouble, but alternatives are imagined," says the trade unionist. "We ask the management to give these alternatives time to give results".
"There is no plan B", ensures the entourage of the direction
Unfortunately for employees, General Electric intends to maintain its project as is. "It's a global project, no question of seeing it again - there is no plan B", says one in the entourage of the management. And the American group seems to appreciate little the interventionism of the state, while Bruno Le Maire calls for a downward revision of his plan to remove posts. "Our subject is becoming a bit too political," adds another source.
DECYPT - What solutions to save the Belfort site?
For General Electric, there is no alternative. The gas turbine market has collapsed in recent years, the project of about 800 job cuts in Belfort would adapt the industrial tool to save the site, say the side of the company. And even if the meeting on Friday could not be held, the group will consider that the legal process is still launched.
The movement of employees, however, is not limited to Friday's action. A support rally is scheduled for Saturday in Belfort, and several thousand people are already announced, including the leader of La France rebellious Jean-Luc Mélenchon.