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In bitter cold, they held the picket all day. Following the national call of the CGT to defend the industry, a rally was organized this Thursday, December 12 in front of the factory WeylChem of Trosly-Breuil east of Compiègne where the chemical manufacturing plant is affected by a layoff plan. The wrongly named Job Protection Plan (PSE) initiated on October 15 planned the elimination of 98 positions. “Thanks to the hard work of elected officials who fight position by position, we have managed to go from 98 to 92 dismissals for the moment by arguing about the reality of the work,” explains Gregory Dubos CGT union delegate.
Left-wing policies at the WeylChem bedside
In the morning, local employees, supported by activists and employees from the chemical sectors, notably from BASF (near Clermont) or the federal chemistry secretary (national manager for the branch), numbered between 170 (according to the authorities) and 200. Senator Isarien Alexandre Ouizille (PS) and the MP for Seine-Saint-Denis Aurélie Trouvé (LFI) made the trip to meet them. Also president of the Social Affairs committee at the National Assembly, Aurélie Trouvé promised to summon the boss of WeylChem.
Ruffin wants to involve the prefect
In the afternoon, warmed by a meager brazier, the WeylChem finally received a visit from the media representative of the Somme François Ruffin (Picardie Debout, near France Insoumise). He was accompanied by the mayor of Margny-sur-Matz, Baptiste de Fresse de Monvalwho works with him on the issue of protecting French industries. The employees presented their problems, in particular the complex legal arrangement of the parent company based in Luxembourg, the ICIG group. A structure that prevents unions from accessing the accounts of the entire group. Or even to plan possible reclassifications in other units of the company. “If it turns out, the other units are very rich and we don’t know it,” summarized Grégory Dubos.
MP Ruffin called for tripartite discussions: management, employees, and prefecture. “We need more transparency. If we present a PSE to the prefecture, we must know the accounts and not be told “you are a small entity in the depths of the Oise, we do not know where it is””. This is the angle of attack of the deputy specializing in social fights: “I come to ask where is the State? Because the boss behaves in this way, I’m not surprised, but between the strong and the weak, there must be the State. If the boss does not want to open his account books, it is the State which must have them opened. If the boss wants to make dismissals under poor conditions, it is the State which must say “no, we do not agree” and refuse approval of the PSE. So I appeal to the prefect of Oise, so that the State weighs in, takes part in the negotiations so that, if there are to be layoffs, that there are training plans, reclassifications, that we negotiates supralegal compensation, etc.”
French Chemistry in crisis
A meeting which was also an opportunity to discuss a sector, chemistry, in bad shape in France. For Ludovic Bufkens, national manager of the chemicals branch for the CGT, the solution can only be economic protectionism: “We have been asking for taxes on imports for years and it is starting to bear fruit with the European Commission which has just put social anti-dumping measures on 36 product lines.
In addition to international competition, particularly from China which can produce under lower social and environmental conditions, the sector, which is extremely energy-intensive, is also facing today the rise in the cost of energy since the start of the war in Ukraine.
François Ruffin is aligned on these questions: “If we operate in an open economy, with the United States which protects itself with Trump, but already before with Biden, and on the other side a China which does not only protect itself, but overinvests and has gigantic export capacities, if the message is “We are open, come in, there are no borders”: we are done.” The MP pleads for “a strong France which seeks a strong Europe with border taxes and customs barriers and import quotas”. Otherwise ? “Otherwise the bleeding will continue,” he warns. It’s been 40 years since textiles that the same causes have produced the same effects.”
The deputy promised to call the short-lived Minister of Labor this Thursday evening to discuss the question of WeylChem, and to weigh in on the prefect. “If the State does not play this role, it will cause anger and resentment to rise,” he warned before hitting the road again.
The WeylChem have planned to go on a renewable strike from today until mid-January which will mark the end of the PES negotiations.
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