Renault management and unions begin social negotiations

Renault management and unions are starting a major round of negotiations on Thursday, September 26. Planned for a long time, they concern the evolution of the workforce over the next three years, France Culture reported on Thursday. The car manufacturer, headed by Luca de Meo, is recovering from several years of crisis.

Jean-François Nanda, central union delegate of the CFDT at Renault, does not expect any job cuts. However, employees are not completely calm. The cause: the harsh “Chinese competition”, explains the unionist on France Culture. Then, “For electric vehicles, many manufacturers are going back and going hybrid,” he continues. Jean-François Nanda “don’t really know” What is the position of the manufacturer Renault on this subject? “The strategic orientations are not yet known. But we are obliged to evolve.”

Rachid Karroumi, deputy central union delegate of the CGT Renault, also believes that there will be inevitable changes. According to him, one of the aspects of the negotiations will concern a partial activity system in order to reduce the working hours of employees. This hypothesis does not reassure him, especially since he finds that the group’s factories are running at a slow pace.

“We are told about factories loaded at 90% but on the ground, it is something else.” The unionist remembers the strategy put in place by the former CEO of Renault, Carlos Ghosn. “Under the Ghosn era, the objective was to produce vehicles, we favoured volume. Today, under Luca De Meo, it is to produce fewer vehicles but with high added value.” Produce less but better, a choice made in the face of changes in the automobile market but which will probably have long-term consequences on the number and nature of jobs at Renault.