The President of the Republic alluded, Monday morning, to the succession of bankruptcies of the buyers of this industrial site, to which he has visited several times since 2017, ensuring each time that the site could restart.
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“We have sometimes been taken for fools. We have sometimes been had collectively.” Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that “goodwill is not enough” facing former employees of the Whirlpool group in Amiens (Somme), whom he met Monday, November 22 in the morning in a cafe in the city center. An allusion to the succession of bankruptcies of the buyers of this industrial site, to which he has visited several times since 2017, ensuring each time that the site could restart.
“The last year has been so difficult, we have been lied to so much. I find it hard to talk about it, it was terrible”, said a former employee, converted to real estate. Two years ago, the President of the Republic had exchanged with the former employees of the factory, who since 2017 have experienced three layoffs after the failures of the two buyers.
Monday morning’s meeting, with nine Whirlpool alumni including four former trade unionists, was unveiled on Twitter by François Ruffin, LFI deputy for the Somme. “We had to insist very hard” for this meeting, said the deputy on France Bleu Picardie.
“There is a huge weariness when you undergo three layoffs plans, when there are buyers three times and you are told three times ‘It’s the right one’ and you are laid off again: you end up in crumbs after an experience like this “, added François Ruffin.
“Of the 278 initial employees, only 43 people remain to date for whom a solution must be found”, specified the group’s HRD. Of these employees, 191 have benefited from employment or training and 41 have retired or pre-retired. The Whirlpool tumble dryer factory closed permanently in June 2018. The first buyer WN was liquidated a year and a half later and the second, Ageco, had the same fate.