Cutbacks at Peugeot and Renault meet growing resistance
Baku, January 30 (AZERTAC). Labour tensions at France's carmakers took a turn for the worse on Tuesday as Renault workers protested over planned cuts and PSA Peugeot Citroen's restructuring plan hit a legal setback.
While Renault staff demonstrated at the company's Flins plant west of Paris and Peugeot workers marched on company headquarters, the carmakers pursued union talks on plans to improve productivity and eliminate close to 8,000 jobs each.
Peugeot, the carmaker worst hit by Europe's deep auto sales slump, is struggling to shed costs and lift sales in its effort to return to profit in 2015. Renault, cushioned by earnings from its Dacia low-cost cars and a 43.4 percent stake in Japan's Nissan , is also grappling with industrial overcapacity as sales of French-built models plunge.
The CFDT, France's biggest private-sector union, also increased pressure on Renault boss Carlos Ghosn by echoing calls from within President Francois Hollande's socialist government for a cut to the chief executive's salary.
Renault is cutting 7,500 jobs over three years without compulsory redundancies and is demanding union concessions on pay, flexibility and working hours in return for guarantees to keep French plants open.
Unions, meanwhile, are demanding firm commitments on production volumes in France as part of any deal.
Peugeot's plan to close a plant and eliminate 8,000 positions across France faces possible delays after the Paris Appeals Court ordered a temporary halt to the restructuring to allow additional consultations with workers.
Peugeot shares closed 1.7 percent lower, wiping out a gain of about 1 percent before publication of the court ruling. Renault shares ended 1.3 percent higher.
Peugeot said talks on the cutbacks were going ahead on Tuesday as scheduled and would continue on February 5 and February 12.
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