France: Béthune still hopes to be able to save its Bridgestone factory

Bridgestone employees gathered in front of the Béthune plant on September 17, 2020. AP Photo / Michel Spingler

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4 min

The closure of the Bridgestone tire plant in Béthune in the north of France threatens 873 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs.

So many families, still stunned by the brutal announcement of last Wednesday.

The city welcomes the two ministers of Industry and Labor, representatives of the region and those of the company this Monday, September 21 to study alternative solutions to the closure of the site.

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With our special

correspondent

in Béthune,

Aabla Jounaïdi

In Béthune, the mayor and trade unionists of the Bridgestone factory have drawn features, over-solicited by political leaders in Paris and journalists.

Why us when other factories in the region have not been entitled to such a media response

 ", asked an elected staff on Sunday.

The sacred union around Bridgestone

may come as a surprise, but the challenge is all the same to save nearly 2,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Tires have been the lifeblood of the region since 1960. Something else will probably have to be found.

The State and the region demand with one voice that alternative scenarios to the closure be studied.

But before any investment as part of the recovery plan, you have to think of an industrial project that ensures the sustainability of the company.

What if this were played out at European level, as some elected officials have defended?

European executives from the Japanese group will attend the meeting by videoconference.

It will undoubtedly be a question of the responsibility of companies which benefit more than ever from public support for the industry in the face of a government itself taken by surprise by the announcement and which legally cannot prevent the closures.

The executive wants to believe that the method agreement signed Friday between the unions and the management can serve as a framework in the coming months to develop alternatives to the closure of the Bethune plant. 

Everyone is disappointed, there are even a lot of people crying ...

[Report] Béthune still struck by the announced closure of the Bridgestone factory

Aabla Jounaïdi

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