A social plan was signed last week at the Condat paper mills in Dordogne. 174 people will be made redundant. Around fifty of them must go into early retirement, “there are 120 people left for whom we must find a future and that is what we are going to focus on”, assured the Minister of Industry this Monday.
“We are not going to let Condat down”, “the State is ready to support this transformation of line 4, up to 30%, up to 40 million euros”announces Roland Lescure, the Minister responsible for Industry, guest of France Bleu Périgord Monday October 16.
>> “The workshop is closing, I’m going to find myself outside”: employees and elected officials are mobilizing to avoid the elimination of 187 positions at Papeteries de Condat
Roland Lescure will meet on Monday October 16 the employees and elected officials of the Condat paper mills, in Dordogne, a few days after the signing of a social plan. It initially planned the elimination of 187 positions, ultimately 174 positions will be eliminated with the closure of line 4 which produced coated paper, or 40% of the factory’s workforce.
After several weeks of negotiations, and 17 days of blocking by employees, the CGT, FO and CFE-CGC unions accepted on Tuesday October 10 the terms of departure of the employees concerned, with a supra-legal bonus of 6,000 euros per employee and 400 euros per year of seniority, or 22,000 euros for those who have spent 40 years in the company.
“The battle has only begun”
Roland Lescure, Minister of Industryin France Bleu Périgord
“I regret the closure of line 4, I hope it is only temporary, I hope we will give hope to this part of the factory”, declares Roland Lescure. Around fifty people are expected to take early retirement. “There are 120 people left who need to find a future and that’s what we’re going to tackle tomorrow”promises Roland Lescure.
“Line 4 makes coated paper, which is in sharp decline, while line 8 makes glossy paper, sticky label paper, which is growing rapidly. The challenge I want to tackle now is that we can as soon as possible possible, transfer line 4 to growing activities, believes the minister. This does not mean that there is no longer hope for the paper in Condat, we must continue to work and beyond that, that we continue to work with the territory because it there is also hope for the industry in the territory, I am committed to it”.
The State will therefore provide financial assistance for the transformation of line 4. “The State is ready to support this transformation of line 4, up to 30%, up to 40 million euros to accelerate the movement and I undertake to take stock regularly, every six months, with management and with representatives of trade union organizations, to see where we are with this project, announces Roland Lescure. We are not going to let Condat down, we are not going to let the employees down, we will continue to work so that there is a future for paper at Condat.”. But the minister adds: “Obviously, the shareholder will also have to get involved”.
The “Industrial Rebound” system will be put in place
The State will however not intervene directly for investment on line 8 which is not “not ready yet”according to the minister. “The management has made a certain number of investments, almost 140 million euros, changed the boiler. The State has already helped via a subsidy for the new boiler. It is the shareholders who will make the new investments on the line 8, there are 5 to 10 million euros left, they have committed to doing so so that line 8 runs at full capacity”, “so that we can then consider transferring line 4”.
The minister also promises to invest “two million euros” for the territory. “We will now focus on training, transition, and do everything we can to find employment for employees who are directly affected. We will set up the ‘Industrial Rebound’ system by investing two million euros in the region, announces the minister. We have already implemented it in Béthune, in Cambrai, it has worked very well. It makes it possible to mobilize the forces of the region, elected officials, industrialists to help find new perspectives.”. Condat shareholders have committed to supplementing this system to the tune of 1.5 million euros.