24 October, 2011
Union members of CGT-Filpac and CFE-CGC boarded five buses early today and headed to Paris from Alizay in northern France to continue their struggle to keep an M-real paper mill operating. In Paris, paperworkers from Alizay in the Haute-Normandie region will protest at the Ministry of Agriculture where final mediation begins between French authorities, the Finnish papermaker, and two potential buyers.
Some 330 workers began a strike and blockade of the Alizay paper mill on 19 October, the day M-real announced closure of the uncoated printing papers mill. M-real, 40% controlled by the Finnish forestry company Metsäliitto, terminated discussions with Thailand-based Advance Agro Ltd., known as Double A Paper, and the Paris-based investment capital company Fin’active SAS due to buy the 48-year-old paper mill.
Thierry Philippot
On 20 October, many paperworkers left the front gate of the mill and took to the A13 motorway between Normandie and Paris and gave passing motorists a “toll-free” handbill describing their plight.
M-real announced on 4 May 2011 that it intended to sell printing paper mills in Alizay and Gohrsmühle, Germany, as part of a major restructuring plan to exit the fine paper industry and focus on paperboard used for packaging.
“We have prepared for the possibility of closure, but we are not yet ready to accept it,” said CGT-Filpac plant representative Thierry Philippot.
Paperworkers Block M-Real’s Alizay Mill
Philippot, along with fellow CGT representative Jean-Yves Lemahieu and CFE-CGC representative Eric Hogger, traveled to Helsinki on 30 September to meet with M-real CEO Mikko Helander in hopes that a deal could be consummated.
M-real had put two conditions on a sale: maintain the current employment for 24 months, and pour all sales from the 310,000-tonne-per-year mill back into the operation. Although both Advance Agro and Fin’active appeared to accept those terms, the deal with favoured Advance Agro broke down when the Thai company demanded other conditions.
The mediation today is with Advance Agro, a company that operates two pulp mills and three paper factories in its home country. Mediation with Fin’active, an investment firm specializing in distressed assets, will be held later this week. The talks will be headed by French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire, a UPM party member and member of France‘s Parliament from the Eure department, where the Alizay mill is located.