Can the state really save the Bridgestone plant in Béthune?

ANALYSIS

"The subject of the closure of Bridgestone is an old subject," recalls Raymond Soubie.

Former social advisor to Nicolas Sarkozy and president of the social strategy consulting group Alixio, the guest of Europe 1 on Sunday noon responded in particular to the comments made a little earlier by Xavier Bertrand concerning the closure of the Béthune plant and the help from the Hauts de France region.

After the massive announcement of the site's closure and the multiple political reactions, Raymond Soubie explained on Europe 1 that the aid that the region can (or could have) given was aid aimed at facilitating the transformation of its economic model.

An economic model that had not worked for several years, according to him.

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Help the factory to change its economic model

The State, the local communities can they really act to avoid the closure of the factory?

Guest of the

, Sunday morning on Europe 1, Xavier Bertrand declared that the region was ready to "finance a large part of the investments" which could save the Béthune site.

"This is a terrible blow for the region and of course for the employees, but deep down, everyone has known for years that the manufacture of Bridgestone was tires which were not high-end tires and which, little by little , came out of the market ", reacts Raymond Soubie.

According to the latter, the Bridgestone factory problem does not depend on Covid-19, but it predates it.

"To save the Bridgestone factory, we must first define what Bridgestone can do in the future," he continues, citing the need to change the nature of its manufacturing.

"We need the agreement of the company, the State and, as Xavier Bertrand said, the region can help, give aid to companies to facilitate the transformation of their economic model, that is, tell of the type of products it manufactures ".

A threat that had been hovering for several years

"The State can not do much in a situation which is not cyclical, but more structural and old", develops Raymon Soubie, who has observed the changes in companies for years.

"He can simply offer the company help to transform the plant," he repeats, adding that, obviously, the parent company of the Bridgestone plant considers that this entity is no longer profitable and that , therefore, the only possibility for it is to close it.

"It was also a threat that was already hovering, as I have said for several years ... So everyone won a day, six months, a year ..."

The management expert notes a real basic problem.

"This is the type of situation where the state, given the shock and the number of jobs affected, says 'I'm going to step in'," he said.

However, for this it would be necessary to have the agreement of the company concerned, but the latter may have difficulty in being enthusiastic "because it will see that it creates obligations", analysis Raymond Soubie.

Lack of social dialogue

The specialist also believes that social dialogue "was not at its peak" in this file, while a competitiveness agreement had already been refused by employees.

"In truth, everyone looked at each other doggedly while knowing full well that the economic model no longer worked", he concludes, believing that transformation measures, in particular change of the type of products, have not not taken in good time, "due to the company's lack of will and lack of social dialogue".