Strike picket against the closure of Renault Lyon Est –
Friday noon, the 105 employees of the Renault Lyon Est group went on strike to challenge the closure of their workshop in Vaulx-en-Velin. The reasons given are stigmatizing and unjustified for the workers as well as for the local elected officials.
The hundred or so employees of the Renault Lyon Est site in Vaulx-en-Velin learned on April 15 that the site will be closed next December. Opened in 1973, it now includes a dealership and repair shops. This Friday noon, the employees set up a picket to put pressure on management. She must ” undertake to respond quickly to transfers of employees to other sites” and “not to leave too long a delay so that the employees can organize themselves in the words of Amara Fenniche, union representative of the company. Communist elected officials and union officials from Vaud quickly joined the rally.
Arguments of insecurity and profitability deemed fallacious by employees and elected officials
Even though the State is a shareholder in Renault, local elected officials such as the prefecture have learned of the closure of the Vaulx-en-Velin site. by an article in Le Progrès. The arguments used to legitimize the news, which appear in the CSE report of April 15, were quickly condemned. In its first version, it mentioned a “clearly specified no-go and traffic zone” to the activities of the company. The establishment would surround itself of a collapsing shopping center ” and ” of a population with low income per household, below the national average “. In other words, the population would have insufficient means to continue to be Renault customers. Reasons “very vague or even insulting for the inhabitants of Vaulx-en-Velin”, testifies Patrice Odet, employed in the bodywork section for 3 and a half years.
The Mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin Helene Geoffroi and Ivan Boucherprefect delegate for defense and security condemned in a letter ” the intellectual ease of stigmatizing the municipality and its inhabitants to justify this decision”. According to the mayor, Renault has never alerted the public authorities concerning a possible insecurity. The employees unanimously affirm that they have not suffered any aggression or degradation.
A neighborhood in full transformation
The Carré de Soie, where Renault Lyon Est is located, is a district that benefits from urban project supported by the Métropole since many years. ” It’s nonsense, explained this morning Hélène Geoffroy at the microphone of RMC, Renault is installed in a neighborhood in full transformation, recent, for which the land has been multiplied by three over the last five years and which is gaining inhabitants. The neighborhood is completely new and with an increasing average standard of living, the middle class is relocating “.
A point of view shared by the employees. ” It’s a false reason », maintains Patrice Odet, « in terms of Dacia sales, we are ranked in the top 10 in France. The figures are far from bad, on the contrary, we were on a good path. Our establishment is firm and stable, with a growing clientele: there are really new constructions, the location is ideal. In Vaulx-en-Velin, we are a pillar in commercial terms. The closure will have global consequences, both for nearby businesses and for residents.
Capitalist operations on a national and European scale for the communists
” We are very worried about the situation of the automobile industry, which is under very strong pressure, was indignant Pierre-Alain Millet, president of the group of elected communists of the Metropolis of Lyon and deputy mayor in Vénissieux. The truth is that Renault has decided on a strategy in which they are going to close many sites. » According to him, Renault does not meet the needs of the inhabitants, the workshop could for example accompany the transformation of non-compliant vehicles in view of the ZFE (Low Emission Zone) and he condemned “a decision made by financiers who make calculations”.
Corinne Matignon, departmental head of the Communist Party, returns the argument on insecurity: ” a lawless zone is an area where there are no more public services and no more shops, not a traffic zone. It was Renault who, by having this attitude of saying “the people of Vaud are poor, so we’re leaving”, created a zone of lawlessness. It is truly scandalous, inadmissible “. She continues: “The population has not become suddenly impoverished, even if there is a deterioration in purchasing power “. As for Paul Boghossian, substitute for Stéphanie Vella for the legislative elections, he calls on the responsibility of the State to maintain jobs at Renault in view of its position as a shareholder.
All employees will be reclassified on the three remaining sites of Renault Retail Group (RRG), namely in Vénissieux, Vaise and Rillieux. If they have all been received by management, they do not know if their respective positions will be kept. Ange Vidal, elected communist opposition to the town hall of Vaulx-en-Velin, had raised the possibility of questioning the Senate and the Region, even though the case reached a national scope. The mayor and the prefect should meet soon with the management of RRG.