The union demonstration organised on Monday 16 September in Brussels was initially aimed at supporting the approximately three thousand workers and subcontractors at the Audi Brussels plant, which is probably doomed to closure after the Volkswagen group announced its intention to close on 9 July. “restructure” this site, which will not be assigned a new model after the gradual cessation of production of the Q8 e-tron electric SUV by 2025.
The parade, which brought together 5,500 people according to the police, was reinforced by foreign delegations, notably French, who came to express their fears for the future of the automobile sector and, beyond that, for the whole of European industry. We have abandoned industries, we have been eaten by the Chinese. We must rebuild, it is the only way to guarantee employment for all”explained for example, Dominique Bray, from the National Central of Employees. According to Hillal Sor, general secretary of the metallurgists of the General Federation of Labor, politicians do not grasp the importance of the crisis that is looming.
A message that resonates particularly in Belgium, where the Audi factory is not the only one in difficulty. The bus manufacturer Van Hool went bankrupt in April and has only undergone a partial takeover, with 1,500 jobs lost. In June, the textile and chemical group Beaulieu announced the closure of two of its Belgian factories while maintaining its production in China and in France, in Comines (North). In September, the multinational Barry Callebaut, the world's largest chocolate producer, announced a restructuring and the elimination of 2,500 jobs out of 13,500, including 500 in its factories in Flanders. The traditional glass sector is also announcing restructuring, and cutting-edge companies are also following the trend.
“Also worry about services and trade”
Thales Alenia Space, the leading player in the Belgian space industry, employs 700 people at its three sites in the country. They will not be spared from a restructuring plan that aims to cut a total of 1,300 jobs – the majority of which are in France. The BelGaN semiconductor plant in East Flanders, which was to embody “a global reference in innovation technologies”according to the regional government, filed for bankruptcy at the end of July, leaving 440 employees out of work.
Latest bad news: Nuode, a Chinese producer of battery components, announced on September 6 that it was suspending “due to economic uncertainties” of its project to set up in Hainaut. Half a billion in investment was planned.
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Source: Lemonde
