26 September, 2011
French trade unionists employed at Lafarge last week began a hunger strike at the headquarters of the company in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud. Some 12 unionists from the company’s Frangey cement plant near Lézinnes, L’Yonne province, are protesting the company’s decision to close that facility. (See prior ICEM report here).
Meanwhile, CFDT and CGT – the unions representing the 74 workers at Frangey – have continued today their stop-work actions at 14 French cement plants of Lafarge. The strikes started last week and were expected to escalate today.
Lafarge announced on 25 May at an extraordinary Works Council meeting that it would close the Frangey plant in three stages between August 2011 and the end of 2012. The company said over-capacity, the small market the Frangey plant serves, and environmental considerations.
6 June Strike at Frangey
On Saturday, 24 September, the hunger strikers were on day five of their protest outside the Lafarge offices. They include the mayor of one of the small towns in the Burgundy region of France. The strikers are grouped in five small tents and were visited Friday and Saturday by a number of French politicians, including parliamentarian Nicolas Dupont-Aignan from l’Essone department.
“I cannot stand to see businesses close and workers thrown out like dogs,” he said, refuting Lafarge’s reasons for closure.
The CFDT delegate taking part in the hunger strike, Florent Gaden, said strikers will remain in front of the company’s offices until the world’s largest cement producer rescinds the closure.
The Frangey cement plant does operate with proper environmental certification. It produces 300,000 tons of cement annually and has a system of cogeneration that serves 50% of the plant’s energy needs.