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17 July, 2005
French union and ICEM affiliate FCE-CFDT has all along suspected that the August 2004 takeover by Aventis of Sanofi-Synthelabo creating Sanofi- Aventis, the world’s third largest pharmaceutical maker, would have dire consequences on employment. The French union did not have to wait long for proof. In order to meet its goal for shedding €1.6 billion in operating costs by 2006, the merged firm’s first attack on workers will make redundant 431 pharmaceutical sales representatives and support staff, close Aventis’s Strasbourg headquarters idling 230 workers, and the spin-off of Research and Development of infectious diseases will cost even more jobs. FCE-CFDT says the company’s selective approach to early retirement is wrong, and the French company must negotiate with the union on age-related and across-the-board early-out packages.