Évron (France) (AFP)

Nearly 400 people, according to the police and the unions, marched on Saturday morning in the streets of Rouen to protest against the closure of the Vallourec factory in Déville-lès-Rouen, which employs 190 employees, noted a correspondent for the AFP.

In the procession, many union flags and a large banner, on which one could read: "Vallourec, Déville sacrificed, reindustrialisation can save us".

The French specialist in seamless tubes for the hydrocarbon market announced in November the elimination of more than a thousand jobs, including 350 in France.

The industrialist is dependent on a hydrocarbon market which has contracted sharply since the start of the health crisis.

Among the demonstrators, about fifty employees from Hauts-de-France, where several industrial sites of the group are also affected by the job cuts.

In Déville-lès-Rouen, layoffs should in principle take place in June 2021. "I have come to create a balance of power and obtain better financial conditions within the framework of the social plan," said Olivier, who says he is "opposed at closing ".

"We are here to show in the public place the dissatisfaction of the employees about this unjustified closure decision, even if there is little hope of having this decision annulled", declared Philippe Quesnel, CFE-CGC union representative and spokesperson for the intersyndicale.

"There is an inconsistency in closing this site which is one of the most successful in Europe. The closure is a way to increase the share price, we must find a rapid and concrete reindustrialisation solution ", he denounces, recalling that the average seniority of the site's employees is 22 years.

Several elected officials also marched alongside the employees, including the president of the Seine-Maritime department, Bertrand Bellanger, the LREM deputy of the department Damien Adam, as well as the PS mayor of Déville-lès-Rouen, Dominique Gambier.

"Discussions are underway on the reindustrialization of the site and quite a few people are interested. We have had two visits," said Gambier.

A meeting is scheduled for Monday in the prefecture to address this issue of the reindustrialization of the site.

© 2020 AFP