280 jobs are threatened in Saint-Claude in the Haut-Jura. The MBF Aluminum foundry has been in receivership for six months. Stellantis (ex-PSA), Renault … The intersyndicale wants French manufacturers to face up to their responsibilities.
At the point where we are … It’s been six months since the start of the receivership, which we hear in a meeting that we have the support of PSA (Stellantis), and six months later, we still have no buyer, because they have no commitment on the order books.
A coup de force. Come and demonstrate in front of the Stellantis factory in Sochaux on Tuesday April 6. This is the choice made by the inter-union MBF made up of the CGT, CFDT, Sud, FO unions. Three coaches, or 150 people, will leave Haut-Jura on Tuesday around 5:30 am to reach the Sochaux plant. To be heard.
In Saint-Claude, the future has darkened. 280 jobs could disappear in this foundry which works 75% for PSA and 20% for Renault. The plant has been in receivership since November 4, 2020. In six months, no buyer has come forward.
On March 31, the current Italian shareholder did file a business continuation plan with the Dijon commercial court. A plan deemed insufficient. It would save 202 jobs, but for justice, the guarantees on the order book are insufficient. State aid too much requested. A new deadline has been set for April 25.
The worst-case scenario could be compulsory liquidation. Employees are on strike, production has been at a standstill since the evening of March 31.
Are French manufacturers in a position to grant new orders for clutch housings for hybrid engines to MBF?
“The French manufacturers say they maintain the current volumes of orders to MBF, but it is too vague” summarizes Nael Yalcin. This would result in the elimination of 80 jobs in Haut-Jura. “In Sochaux, we will ask manufacturers to meet their volume commitments made before the health crisis at the end of 2019. In terms of turnover, it would take to maintain jobs and activity in Saint-Claude, 40 million turnover and not currently 30 ”… If Stellantis, like Renault, each grant 5 million orders, employment would be preserved at MBF in France. “We will also go to protest in front of Renault,” announces the intersyndicale.
The MBF foundry was weakened by the decline in Renault’s order book. Between 2017 and 2019, it had invested 14 million euros to modernize the production tool and produce clutch housings for Renault hybrid vehicles. The diesel gate, the drop in sales of new vehicles, the covid crisis have all been there. The French manufacturer Renault, which was to order 350,000 parts per year, has revised its orders downwards with only 130,000 parts per year.
The trade unionist admits that it is more Renault that has withdrawn than the former PSA group. Some of the Renault crankcases went into production for Spain. “PSA hardly assigns new productions to French subcontractors. They are moving towards the eastern countries, and with the marriage to Fiat, it could get worse, ”worries Nael Yalcin.
Between the builders and the management of MBF, the tension is palpable. The management of MBF has publicly questioned the latter, and said to have initiated proceedings against Renault for non-compliance with its volume commitments. After their planned protest outside the Stellantis factory, MBF workers have their eyes set on April 9. A videoconference is planned between the state and the automakers, says the inter-union MBF.
A report issued in June 2020 already threatened the future of the MBF foundry
This report pointed to the possibility of saving the Haut-Jura foundry, but reducing its workforce by half to 150 employees. This study of the automobile foundry in France was commissioned by the General Directorate of Enterprises (DGE), at the service of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance.
The study carried out by the German firm Roland Berger was intended to analyze the potential of the French foundry sector, which represents a market in Europe of around 50 billion euros. “The restructuring of the foundry sector orchestrated by the contractors and the State has already been launched, the fatalistic study carried out by the Roland Berger firm on the foundry sector on the pretext of production overcapacity in France is undermining many foundries. This study fully illustrates the consequences of the strategies implemented in recent decades by the choice to relocate activities in low-cost countries in order to increase profits ”denounced the intersyndicale at the end of March.