Bridgestone employee -

AFP

  • Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone wants to close its Béthune plant.

  • An announcement which means the dismissal of more than 800 employees.

  • The government has presented a plan to keep half of the jobs there.

The less the worse the worse.

This Monday morning, the Minister of Industry, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, received in Bercy the representatives of the employees of the Bridgestone factory in Béthune as well as the local elected officials.

During this “progress report”, a “scenario” allowing the safeguarding of 400 jobs on the site was proposed to Bridgestone by the government.

This industrial project by the firm Accenture plans to maintain the production of three million tires on the site and would avoid approximately half of the 843 layoffs announced.

This scenario nevertheless assumes a restructuring of the site and 100 million euros of investment in order to gain 25 to 40% of productivity.

"We will not let ourselves be"

“We asked Bridgestone to take the time to explore this additional scenario,” explained Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

“We will not let this happen, we will fight to give this site an industrial future.

[…] I hope that our Japanese friends understand what is at stake at the human level in Béthune, ”added the Minister of Industry at the end of the meeting.

"Bridgestone in Japan must tell us how they respond," said Hauts-de-France president (ex-LR) Xavier Bertrand.

"If it is not, we will enter into a standoff to obtain the maximum for the site and the employees.

We don't leave like that, in France ”.

For its part, the management of Bridgestone sees things differently.

She first insisted on the fact that the Accenture report “confirms that the alternative scenarios previously studied in depth […] do not offer viable solutions.

"On the project proposed by the Minister, the tire manufacturer wishes to remain cautious, stating in particular that" this possibility is nevertheless based on assumptions which need to be detailed and worked on "while agreeing to examine" its viability.

"

Bridgestone expands further into other possibilities.

“Any external solution likely to create new activities on the site” or even the reclassification of employees “within its other activities in France and outside the company.

"

Economy

Béthune: The State "ready to invest" to save the Bridgestone factory

Lille

Closure of Bridgestone: "The administrative authority does not have the power to verify if the economic reason is real", explains a lawyer

  • Employment

  • Factory

  • Industry

  • Dismissal