Michelin factory closures: administrative court rejects employees' request
A request by Michelin employees concerning the job protection plan (PSE) introduced after the announcement of the closure of the Vannes (Morbihan) and Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) factories was rejected on Friday, September 12, by the Clermont-Ferrand administrative court.
This action aimed to challenge the validation by the DREETS (Regional Directorate for the Economy, Employment, Work and Solidarity) of the collective agreement following the closures .
"It does not appear from the documents in the case that the administration did not ensure (...) the inclusion in the job protection plan of a reclassification plan as well as measures allowing the monitoring of its effective implementation" , the court considers in particular in its judgment.
In a press release, the court said it had "found that the administration had indeed carried out its checks on each of the points contested by the applicants without them being able to rely on rules specifically concerning the case of approval of the unilateral document" .
The public rapporteur, whose opinion is often followed by administrative courts, concluded that the request should be rejected during a hearing on September 3.
"We strongly disagree with this decision, which is why we are appealing," said the employees' lawyer, Fyodor Rilov. The fifteen employees who brought the case before the court "are first and foremost contesting the very principle of their dismissal, since they lost their jobs at a time when Michelin was making absolutely colossal profits," Rilov said after the hearing.
"We are not on the approval of the PSE (job protection plan): (...) the administration only notes the PSE and the accompanying measures and not their relevance," argued Hugues Lapalus, the lawyer for the group, whose head office is in Clermont-Ferrand.
The majority unions CFE-CGC, CFDT and Sud signed an agreement in March on support measures for the 1,254 employees affected by the closure of the two factories, announced for November 2024. This agreement was then validated by the DREETS, which reports to the Ministry of Labor.
La Croıx
