AUTONEWS

Thousands protest in northern France after Renault announces layoff of 4,600 employees

As France takes its first steps to relaunch its economy, thousands of French people protested this Saturday morning (30) in front of a Renault plant in the northern city of Maubeuge. The demonstration calls for the intervention of the French government to prevent the dismissal of 4,600 employees, part of the auto company's plan announced on Friday.
"We were told that we were the best factory in Europe, that we had no reason to be afraid, and today we are told that they are going to close and send production to Douai? We cannot let that happen," says Jean-Marc Pelleriaux, 61, an employee at company.
The Maubeuge plant has 2,100 employees and has been shut down since Friday, the automaker plans to transfer production of the Kangoo electric cars to another French unit. The reduction of the plant should lead to the dismissal of Renault employees, and also affect the business of around 1,000 service providers who work for the company in the region.

The restructuring is part of the economy plan made by the automaker, which expects to reduce its global production by 20% by 2024. In order to adapt to this expected drop, the group plans to close 15 thousand jobs worldwide, 4.6 thousand of them in France.

Macron government announced aid package for automakers
This Saturday's demonstration brought together thousands of workers, and placed side-by-side politicians in the region linked to both the right (Republican) and left (Communist) parties.
The French question the announcement of a massive layoff just days after Emmanuel Macron's government launched a € 8 billion post-Covid aid package for auto companies.
Renault-Nissan could benefit from a loan of 5 billion euros guaranteed by the French state, according to the newspaper Le Monde.
The sector saw an 89% drop in sales during April, when France was in confinement.
Next Tuesday, union representatives, Minister Bruno Le Maire and the head of the Renault-Nissa group, Jean-Dominique Senard, will sit down at a meeting in the Ministry of the Economy.

RFI-Radio Internationl France