Outright union hostility to PSA Peugeot’s Citroen’s massive job reduction plans looks likely to be neutered by the imminent holiday season in France that will see vast swathes of the country’s automotive sector leave for the beach.
Despite a slight relaxing in recent years of companies rigidly adhering to a holiday schedule, France nonetheless clings strongly to its tradition of spending large parts of August in particular, on holiday.
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PSA only announced its intention to slash up to 8,000 jobs and close its Aulnay plant near Paris on 12 July – leaving its many and powerful unions little time to act collectively ahead of the vacation period.
That did not stop thousands demonstrating in front of PSA’s headquarters in Paris today (25 July) however, with pictures showing massed union members from the Force Ouvriere (Worker Force) marching past the French capital’s iconic Arc de Triomphe.
“August is neutralised because of the holidays,” Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail (CFDT) national secretary metallurgy, Philippe Portier, told just-auto from Valenciennes in northern France.
“We have a meeting on 14 September with the heads of the metallurgy unions – it is there we will discuss what will happen in the automotive sector. There will be a period when nothing much will happen.”
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By GlobalDataThe CFDT national secretary conceded “it is clear PSA is in a difficult situation” following the automaker’s unveiling of first half losses totalling EUR819m (US$994m), but insisted his union was trying to stimulate discussion on the wider French auto landscape.
To that end, the French government announced a major hike in EV and hybrid financial support today, but despite the CFDT’s general backing of the aid, it cautioned other domestic automakers could face woes of their own.
“We are trying to broaden the debate on the entirety of the auto sector,” said Portier. “The government…is moving in the right direction.
“We don’t think it is just PSA who are in difficulties. Renault has also some worries.”
Portier added as well as demonstrations in Paris, there were also an unspecified number of strikes today across French auto plants, although it is as yet unclear which facilities staged walk-outs.
