Airbus, its employees and its entire ecosystem are suffering the full impact of the Covid-19 crisis.
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Immediately after the announcement by the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus of the abolition of 15,000 jobs, the unions concerned mobilized, shouted their refusal and called for negotiations.
The Airbus unions affirmed, this Tuesday, June 30, 2020, their opposition to any “forced dismissal” after the announcement the same day by the group of the elimination of nearly 15,000 jobs worldwide, including 5,000 in France, and called for negotiations in the face of a crisis deemed “cyclical”.
The manufacturer justified its decision by the impact of the “unprecedented crisis” suffered by the air transport sector struck down by the Covid-19, but its plan was deemed “excessive” by the French government.
In addition to the 5,000 positions to be eliminated in France, the manufacturer plans to part with 5,100 employees in Germany, 1,700 in the United Kingdom, 900 in Spain and 1,300 on the group’s other sites worldwide, the aircraft manufacturer said on Tuesday evening in a press release.
Commercial aviation activity has dropped nearly 40% in recent months, he said.
“Although forced measures cannot be excluded at this stage, Airbus will work with its social partners to limit the impact of this plan by relying on all available social measures, including voluntary departures, early retirement measures , as well as long-term partial unemployment, “said Airbus, which intends to conclude discussions with unions in 2020.
“The aeronautics sector is facing a massive, brutal and lasting shock. It is highly likely that the recovery will be gradual. We have never hidden it, ”reacted the French Ministry of the Economy.
“We even anticipated it with the implementation of a 15 billion euro plan to support the sector. However, the figure of job cuts announced by Airbus is excessive, “he lamented, asking to” reduce forced departures as much as possible “.
In addition to the employees who will be subject to layoffs, the entire Airbus ecosystem will suffer the shock wave of the crisis that the manufacturer is going through.
Angry unions
The restructuring plan, presented in the afternoon to the unions in the European committee, is “far-reaching” with “extremely heavy” figures of job cuts, reacted Dominique Delbouis, FO coordinator of the Airbus group, in a point press in front of the headquarters.
“For FO, the red line is to reduce this figure which seems excessive to us, and to put in place all possible measures so as not to have to deplore the least forced dismissal”, he added.
“To be able to restart quickly and strong, we must keep all employees in the company,” said FO delegate, Jean-François Knepper, calling on Airbus to demonstrate “social responsibility” in view of the support provided. by the State to the sector.
“We will negotiate, and if that is not enough, we will see,” he added, excluding immediately a call to strike. “We want to take them to the negotiating table to find solutions on employment, on early departures, on long-term partial unemployment”.
For him, as “this crisis is cyclical, (…) Airbus has enough resources to rebound once the health crisis has passed. And Airbus is all the more likely to rebound because it is alone in the world, Boeing being on the mat and the Chinese not yet on the market. ”
These negotiations will last four months, beginning in early July, he said.
“No forced departure of group employees can be considered,” also reacted the CFE-CGC, the group’s second union in a press release.
The management “resorts too quickly to the radical solution of a massive social plan” while “the loss of jobs and skills is a serious risk for Airbus, which takes the dangerous and irreversible bet of not being able to meet the need when the market situation will recover. Because it will recover, ”added the union.
Like FO, it asks management to “immediately open negotiations” to find solutions, in particular via the establishment of “partial long-term activity”, the relocation of activities, and “measures of support of the age measures type ”.
“Public aid is not there to finance layoffs,” also notes the CFE-CGC.
The unions will speak Thursday afternoon before Airbus employees to announce the details of the plan for France, after an Airbus France group committee in the morning.
The mayor of Toulouse said in a statement that “all means (will be) implemented to mitigate the effects of this plan on the employment of Toulouse”.
“I am and will remain attentive to the situation of the aeronautical sector which represents 40% of industrial employment in the region”, said Delga after speaking with the CEO of the group Guillaume Faury, announcing that she will present on Friday a “regional recovery plan for the aeronautics and space sector, amounting to almost 100 million euros”.
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