Shops are closed, people in the street alongside of employees: Belfort is set to become a “dead city” on Saturday to try to rescue the historic site of Alstom and its 400 jobs are under threat by a transfer activity.
It is the second day of action after a first appearance on 15 September, which was attended by some 2,000 people in support of the 480 employees of the factory installed since 1879 in the city.
The announcement at the beginning of September to the transfer of production of trains of Alstom Belfort in Reichshoffen, in Alsace, is a threat to 400 of the 480 posts of the site, which does not mean that the maintenance activity.
Since then, the city is suspended in the negotiations that are underway between the government and the management of the group.
The day “dead city” has the purpose “to show that anger is rising in Belfort and to put pressure on the government and on the direction” of the industrial group, explained to AFP the mayor of this community of 50,000 inhabitants, Damien Meslot (LR).
The municipal official hopes for a mobilization “very well attended”, because, according to him, “people are very supportive” of the future of the factory, from where came out the first TGV in 1971, and which depend almost 900 indirect jobs.
A large gathering is expected at 14: 00 place de la résistance, where a procession will leave up to the prefecture. At the same time, marketers are being called upon to lower their curtain 14: 00 to 15: 00.
The public services open Saturday, such as museums, will also be closed for an hour and the public transport network will be free of charge.
“All the traders are worried because we are all going to suffer the departure of 400 families,” said the manager of the Federation of Associations of Merchants and Craftsmen of the Territory-of-Belfort, Elizabeth White. The independent traders “are unanimous behind this outpouring of solidarity, it is a time of closure necessary,” she says.
On the other hand, most of the national brands such as FNAC or the New Galleries will open normally, says the president of the shopkeepers association of the shopping center in The Suburbs, Philippe Engélyc.
- 400 families -
The Confederation of crafts and small enterprises of the Building has also been called the artisans of the building “to join massively in the engagement”.
“The city has always been concerned about what is happening in the plant, and in this difficult period, the residents and traders feel connected to Alsthommes” said Olivier Kohler, delegate CFDT Alstom Belfort, satisfied to see that “everyone goes to the niche to save the jobs”.
“The departure of 400 families would have an undeniable impact on the economy of the city” and this day “dead city” demonstrates “the important relationship, since 137 years, between the plant and the population”, notes the trade union.
at The foot of the giant sculpture of the Lion of Bartholdi, the emblem of the city of Belfort, a banner of a giant “Support to Alsthommes” has been suspended to give witness to the commitment of the city to the factory. The county Council made a print of 10,000 stickers “To Alsthommes”.
This mobilization comes at a time when the government promised to introduce “in the coming days” solutions to keep the production of trains at Alstom’s Belfort, and a central works council (CEC) extraordinary is convened on Monday at the group’s headquarters in Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis).
A second CTE, the ordinary, will follow on Tuesday morning. The 9,000 employees of the twelve sites in france are called on to strike on the same day and a demonstration is planned in Saint-Ouen, at 11: 00 am. Employees belfortains will arrive in a TGV train specially chartered by the inter-union (CFE-CGC, CGT, CFDT, FO).
24/09/2016 11:52:19 – Belfort (AFP) – © 2016 AFP
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