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20 February, 2002By filing for bankruptcy at a U.S. plant, the French-based auto parts supplier is attempting to renege on the collective agreement.
USA/FRANCE: At the initiative of the International Metalworkers' Federation, its U.S. affiliate, the IUE-CWA, met with the IMF and its three French affiliates - the FGMM/CFDT, FO Métaux and FTM/CGT - in Paris on February 18 to discuss the critical situation faced by workers at the Rochester (New York) subsidiary of the French-based autoparts supplier Valeo. The company is in the midst of a number of restructuring operations affecting plants in the U.S., Latin America and Europe, and the IUE-CWA is particularly concerned with what is happening at the Valeo plant in Rochester.
According to the IUE-CWA, which represents 3,000 workers at the Rochester plant, Valeo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2001, although the company has few creditors, minimal debt and a healthy balance sheet. The company then proceeded to change its name to Valeo Electrical Systems Inc. The union says that by abusing U.S. bankruptcy law, and using it as an "offensive weapon", it is attempting to back out of legal commitments it made in the collective agreement signed in August 2000.
Following the meeting in Paris, the three French metalworkers' unions issued a joint press statement on February 19 condemning Valeo for trying to break the contract at its Rochester plant and affirming their full support with the U.S. union's struggle to keep the plant open and to protect the workers' jobs there. The FGMM/CFDT, FO Métaux and FTM/CGT stated they would call on the Valeo group management to ensure that the workers' rights in Rochester are respected, and in particular those covered in the collective agreement. The French unions said they reject the Valeo group's call for global competition between plants and workers.
According to the IUE-CWA, which represents 3,000 workers at the Rochester plant, Valeo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2001, although the company has few creditors, minimal debt and a healthy balance sheet. The company then proceeded to change its name to Valeo Electrical Systems Inc. The union says that by abusing U.S. bankruptcy law, and using it as an "offensive weapon", it is attempting to back out of legal commitments it made in the collective agreement signed in August 2000.
Following the meeting in Paris, the three French metalworkers' unions issued a joint press statement on February 19 condemning Valeo for trying to break the contract at its Rochester plant and affirming their full support with the U.S. union's struggle to keep the plant open and to protect the workers' jobs there. The FGMM/CFDT, FO Métaux and FTM/CGT stated they would call on the Valeo group management to ensure that the workers' rights in Rochester are respected, and in particular those covered in the collective agreement. The French unions said they reject the Valeo group's call for global competition between plants and workers.