FRANCE: Renault union jigsaw pieces almost in place as CFDT to sign up

By Simon Warburton | 7 March 2013

Renault has taken a major step forward (today) in securing agreement for its wide-ranging productivity deal with the third of its major four unions to ink the deal - albeit somewhat grudgingly.

The French automaker has been engaged in a marathon series of negotiations with its labour bodies to seek approval for a new contract that would see increased volume and no factory closures, in exchange for a salary freeze and 7,500 redundancies.

The CFE-CGC and Force Ouvriere (FO) unions have received a membership mandate to sign the deal and have now been joined by the CFDT labour body that has given its approval, leaving the hardline, but influential CGT, somewhat marginalised.

"The CDFT considers Renault's current situation does not immediately allow the necessary level of competivity to ensure the future of the Renault brand, its French sites, jobs and the automotive sector in France," said the CFDT in an email to just-auto.

"Faced with these crucial stakes, the CFDT has decided to commit itself to talks and henceforth to a signature on an agreement, which is above all, an industrial deal. This has already been signed by the CFE-CGC and FO.

"The CFDG maintains if the competivity problem on wage costs is imposed, it is because Renault has failed on other elements, notably range positioning, its European volumes have fallen, that its strategy in the [Nissan] alliance have left Renault less profitable in traditional markets, all the while specialising more and more in low-cost vehicles."

Despite its concerns, the CFDT nonetheless "positively notes" Renault's ambitions for its model range and the co-operation with Daimler, confirming it will sign the deal as a "first step" to securing Renault's profitability.

"In this context, the deal to be signed constitutes an indispensable first step in Renault's turnaround, while preserving its industrial sites for future growth," added the union.

Source: http://www.just-auto.com/news/renault-union-jigsaw-pieces-almost-in-place-as-cfdt-to-sign-up_id132364.aspx?utm_source=news-feed&utm_medium=rss-feed&utm_campaign=rss-feed

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