The deadline is now engraved in the marble. Ford announced Thursday the opening of a plan to safeguard employment at its plant in Blanquefort, Gironde. A first meeting with the unions of this site specialized in the manufacture of transmissions must be held on June 26th.
“To launch the procedure of information-consultation makes it possible to clarify the situation and to create an agenda towards a potential closure of the site at the end of 2019, even if we want to find a solution of recovery by then”, explains one to the hexagonal direction of the American manufacturer. The latter also ensures that there will be no reduction in wages or compulsory redundancies before September 2019.
Since a few months and the arrival of Jim Hacket at the controls, Ford has initiated a vast global industrial and commercial reorganization Blanquefort is paying the price.
Confirming the fears of some 900 employees, Ford had announced in late February not want to assign the site new parts to be machined (the gearboxes for Europe will be made in the United States), and a buyer was now actively sought . “A firm is mandated. There are already contacts, “says one at Ford. A potential Belgian candidate has visited the premises, says a union source. It would be Punch Powerglide, which manages the former General Motors transmission plant in Strasbourg.
The anger of Bercy
It is for this reason that Bercy “deeply regrets” Ford’s decision. “The group could have waited until January to launch the social plan. That could have allowed to negotiate with a buyer in a calm climate “, one points at the ministry, where one specifies that discussions are in progress.
In 2013, Ford signed an agreement with the government guaranteeing the maintenance of employment until May 2018 in exchange for a grant of 12.5 million euros.
“If a PES is open, the most competent employees will leave and it will not help to find a good buyer,” said Gilles Lambersen, who is like Philippe Poutou CGT delegate. According to local authorities, who denounce an “unacceptable” and “incomprehensible” decision, the average age of employees is 51 years.
To tell the truth, all this has a feeling of déjà-vu. The site has already been reclaimed ten years ago: the manufacturer had sold the factory to a German manufacturer, but it had proved defective and the operation had fizzled, forcing Ford to come back to the wheel in 2011. Temporarily, therefore.