New episode! On the occasion of the centenary of Dunlop in Montluçon (Allier), we come back to the milestones of the factory in Bourbonnaise land. This time, return from Thursday, February 4, 1999. The newspaper The echoes then announced the takeover for a billion dollars of the American and European assets of the Japanese Sumitomo, owner of Dunlop. With this acquisition, which must be accompanied by a vast restructuring plan, Goodyear, world number 3 behind Bridgestone and Michelin, intends to regain the leadership of tires.
At what price ? This is what the CGT of the Montluçon (Allier) factory wonders, which, the next day, publishes a leaflet to call for “vigilance, requirement and mobilization”. “Experience has already shown us during the takeover of Dunlop by Sumitomo in 1984, the human drama we have been confronted with, since unfortunately one employee in two has been dismissed”.
1. Goodyear-Sumitomo, an alliance that questions
Mid-March 1999, through the voice of Jean-Pierre Hurtaud, Force Ouvrière observes that “this economic rapprochement has only one goal: to obtain productivity gains and lower costs by establishing common interests” . However, the central delegate does not want to be catastrophic.
“This alliance can be a good thing for our factory, because Sumitomo could have been in a precarious situation without it. “
Jean-Pierre Hurtaud (Labor Force)
Jean-Pierre Hurtaud (far right).
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For its part, the CGT launched, on March 24, a petition for “maintaining and developing employment”. It will be given to Claude Cham, the CEO of Dunlop-France. On April 1, at a press conference, the union wanted to be optimistic “but also realistic”. “These major international marriages have unfortunately already resulted in more than 10% of job losses.”
2. A first warning shot: 51 jobs cut
On October 19, 1999, the central works council of Dunlop-France, meeting in Issy-les-Moulineaux, announced the relocation to Germany or Amiens of part of the purchasing, research and logistics services. This decision led to the abolition of 51 posts in the Montluçonnaise company which employed, at that time, 1,400 employees including temporary workers.
With a view to site specialization, internal competition and the elimination of duplicates, thousands of jobs are threatened in the short term at Dunlop.
The CGT
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For many observers of local economic life, the Montluçonnais site, which “releases” four types of products (truck tires, tractor-engineering, motorbikes and vans), may soon be forced to focus on motorbike and van tires.
3. New jobs cut and specialization
In January 2000, clouds gathered over Dunlop. In Birmingham, the heavyweight activity stops causing the loss of 650 jobs. On the site of rue de Pasquis, where the battle over the 35-hour week is still raging, we fear the worst while the 51 job cuts are still in progress.
In mid-February, a delegation of elected officials from Montluçonnais, led by the mayor, Jean-Claude Micouraud, went to the Paris headquarters of Dunlop-France. “Claude Cham told us that no decision had been made for the Montluçon site,” said MP Pierre Goldberg. On June 30, in municipal council, the mayor worried about the extraordinary works council of Dunlop France “which suggests ominous decisions”.
On July 3, the company announced a plan to reorganize its activities, which resulted in the loss of 400 jobs in Montluçon, or one third of the workforce:
“We want to specialize the Montluçon factory on two promising activities: motorcycle tires for which Montluçon would be the only production center in Europe and tires for vans. “
Claude Cham (CEO of Dunlop-France)
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It is the end of the heavy truck activity which must be transferred to factories in Luxembourg and Germany and agricultural tires – they concerned a small volume – which leave for Amiens and several European countries.
4. The time of mobilization and disillusionment
While Force Ouvrière does not wish to “engage in a test of strength”, the CGT calls for a rally in the days that follow. On July 8, more than 700 people find themselves outside the factory gates. Gilles Vincent, CGT Dunlop delegate, regrets the loss of the heavy goods vehicle branch, the “flagship” of the Montluçonnaise activity. The FO delegate, Christian Vasseur, condemns the “human and industrial waste”.
The demonstration of July 8, 2000.
Letters are sent to the Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin. A meeting is organized with Christian Pierret, the Secretary of State for Industry. On September 23, more than 3,000 people demonstrated in the streets of Montluçon. On December 11, a strike was launched at the call of the CGT. Access to the factory is blocked, the circulation of trains and motorists disrupted. It will last until the 19th, the day of the end-of-year truce. In the end, 330 positions will be eliminated over the first three months of 2001.
Previous articles:
-1. In five objects, a collector recounts the nostalgia for the factory.
– 2. The night the English razed their factory.
– 3. Jacky Regrain, born in the factory one day in 1939.
– 4. When the writer Jean-Charles Varennes renamed Montluçon “Dunlopville”.
Fabrice Redon
Archive photos
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