Winter in France promises to be difficult on a social level. According to state services, more than 50,000 businesses are in difficulty in France. The Minister of Industry says he expects thousands of job cuts in the coming months. The CGT even puts forward the figure of 150,000 jobs threatened. At the beginning of November, Auchan and Michelin gave the “ there » with social plans that leave several thousand employees in the lurch. The tire specialist will close two factories in the west of France, in Vannes and Cholet. Cholet where employees are trying to cope.
In front of the factory, the angry employees have amassed a gigantic pile of tires topped with a gallows, where a mannequin dressed in the overalls of the workers here swings at the end of a rope. “ Michelin assassin » is tagged angrily next to the hanged man.
At the rear, the gates are closed, protected on both sides by employees. Bastien You, worker and CGT activist, explains that the truck which was to deliver raw materials to the factory is prevented from returning: “ There are a few of us who are on strike or on compensated absence. It’s protean, it doesn’t fit into boxes. But what is certain is that for two weeks, there have been 150, 200 workers taking turns to man the picket, day and night. There, we have comrades who came to prevent the truck from entering. Because, even if they said to themselves that today, they did not have the means to strike, they have no desire for the trucks to leave again, because it is their only means of pressure against Michelin. »
A feeling of abandonment
In the crowd of workers, Mohamed, 36 years old at Michelin: “ It’s a total disgust because in 36 years, we thought we knew the company, but we realize that they have no respect for humans, they squeezed us like lemons. I was in a team, so we’re completely worn out: tendinitis problems in our shoulders, knees, and now that we’re destroyed, they’re throwing it at us vulgarly! »
Xavier Cailloux, CFDT union delegate, is resigned. For him, the future of the site is sealed, production will not resume after 2026: “ This is giving false hope to employees and employees do not need to have false hope. You have to have certainty. A certainty of leaving with a decent check, a certainty of having training commensurate with what they need to be able to retrain. It is still a population – like many French factories – which is quite aging. So, we don’t retrain like that, we have to give ourselves the means. There is no question that 20 %, 25 % of the people who are there, myself included, after all that we have given, will end our career unemployed, like dirty people. »
“ Prepared for a very long time »
The Cholet factory is 60 years old, the premises are dilapidated, and despite more than 3 billion euros in profits in 2023, Michelin has not invested in the site, deplores Richard Grangien, CGT union representative: “ We have buildings that are dilapidated, the cooking workshop which is even collapsing, it is a workshop which is on two floors. It’s full of asbestos, the floor is collapsing. So, yes, there was no investment at all, that’s for sure. It’s been prepared for a very long time, it doesn’t come from the Chinese market which is waking up or anything! »
After a few hours, the truck ended up turning back to the applause of the workers, the bailiffs mandated by management recorded the blockage. A short-lived joy, because many worry about the future.
Also readFrance: employee outrage after the elimination of more than 3,600 positions at Michelin and Auchan