Florange (France) (AFP)
"We cannot say that we are volunteers, but we also do not have a gun in the back": on the ArcelorMittal site in Florange (Moselle), employees and unions are divided on the resumption of production in the middle of a coronavirus crisis, under the supervision of the Labor Inspectorate.
"Is it reasonable to continue industrial activity when the region is experiencing an extremely rare (health) crisis? We must provide customers, this is the only doctrine that has been important", denounces Frédéric Weber, representative FO on the site.
"In addition to being infected with Covid-19 at work, can management confirm optimal management if an accident at work should happen while our hospitals are submerged?", Questions Lionel Burriello , of the CGT.
The Grand Est is one of the regions most affected by the coronavirus epidemic. According to the unions, two employees at the Florange site, which employs nearly 2,300 people, were contaminated with Covid-19 and several people presented symptoms.
The unions, considering that the conditions were not met to guarantee the safety of employees, had obtained the temporary cessation of activities.
- Urgent need for steel -
But after a week, the site resumed steel production. "The main leaders in the packaging sector have asked the site management to continue supplying them with the steel necessary for the manufacture of cans, which are currently experiencing considerable demand and which, in the current context, do not may suffer no logistical breakdown, "management said in a statement.
"Florange is a critical supplier to other industrial players who are now running on a just-in-time basis and who have pressing steel needs", such as the automobile sector, she adds.
During an extraordinary social and economic committee (ESC), prior to the resumption of activities on March 24, four out of five unions had voted against the lifting of the "right to alert for serious and imminent danger" tabled a few days earlier by the CGT. The Labor Inspectorate has been seized and will soon submit its conclusions on the current working conditions of employees.
The management claims to have put in place "drastically reinforced health measures" with an "extremely rigorous protocol". Employees have been made aware of barrier gestures and their managers regularly remind them of them, some of them testified to AFP.
"If we can maintain a little activity with customers and not be bitten by other countries, with voluntary employees and the security in place, I think that is a good thing", recognizes Jean- Marc Vecrin, national representative CFDT, majority union which was however not favorable to the restart of the production lines.
- "The ideal would be tests" -
"It is a good thing, both for the country and for the employees," sighs at the change of position Fabien, 59, employed in the cold rolling mill.
Laurent, 43, who works on the galvanizing line dedicated to the automotive sector, is however "a little mixed" on the resumption of activity: "I understand the need for my employer (to continue manufacturing steel) . I'm not going to work with a ball in my stomach, but I have mistrust, concern, "he explains.
"We cannot say that we are volunteers, but we also do not have a gun in the back," he adds.
According to the unions, the absenteeism rate, between sick leave and childcare, is between 25% and 30%.
"I am safer in the factory than in a supermarket, but I understand that people prefer not to come to work," said Michel, 58, a packaging employee.
"We had a case (of Covid-19) in the team, today he's better. We rubbed shoulders with him, but no one else had any symptoms," he added.
The unions demanded masks and gloves for the workers in the workshops. "We asked for the temperature measurement, if that can reassure people before coming to work. The ideal would be to do tests," said Mr. Vecrin.
© 2020 AFP