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France will force Ford to revitalise site of plant closure: Macron
PESSAC, France, March 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron
on Friday pledged to force automaker Ford to pay to help create new jobs on
an industrial site the US firm plans to close in southwestern France.
The French government has denounced Ford’s decision to shut its plant
making gear boxes after the company rejected a takeover bid that could have
saved some of the 800 jobs at the site in France’s southwest.
“We shall force the firm to revitalise” the industrial site at Blanquefort,
near Bordeaux, “to invest for its industrial make-over”, Macron told local
lawmakers.
“The law allows us to force a firm to pay” for this, he added.
Ford has previously said it would fund a broad “re-industrialisation plan”
to reduce the impact on the region’s economy.
Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux on accused Ford executives of taking
a “shameful attitude” in refusing a final offer from Franco-Belgian equipment
manufacturer Punch Powerglide on Monday.
French officials had hailed the improved bid lodged by the Strasbourg-based
company last week, which could have allowed around half the employees to keep
their jobs.
In return unions had agreed to a pay freeze and more flexible working
hours.
“We will make them (Ford) pay for the laid-off employees, for the clean-up
of the site, and for new industrialisation efforts for the region,” Griveaux
told France Info radio.
Ford, which announced the closure nearly a year ago, had said it did not
consider Punch Powerglide’s plan convincing. Unions also noted the offer was
not accompanied by guarantees of sufficient client orders to sustain the site
over the long term.
Macron said the government and regional authorities would also seek to help
employees find new jobs or training.
French authorities have until March 4 to officially rule on Ford’s closure
plan.
BSS/AFP/HR/0935