A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA #352 - Salary insubordination (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Strikes at Ford in Germany
Argentina: hospital strikes, worker mobilizations in Tierra del Fuego
Strikes in Iran
New call for strike at LIDL
Strikes at the Union of Champagne Houses
Arcelor Mittal companies in Haumont: anger and strike for wages
Strike and blockade at Lubrizol Rouen and Le Havre
2.5 months of strike at Maintenance Industrie
Strike against layoffs at Saverglass
Fight against 155 layoffs at Domo Belle-Étoile
Strikes at Ford in Germany
On May 6, 2025, workers at Ford factories vote to strike. On May 8, the 
works council confirms the strike. On May 14, the strike begins at Ford 
factories in Cologne. At the beginning of June, workers at the two 
Cologne factories go on general strike. The dispute concerns a new wave 
of layoffs, which the union rejects. The Ford factory in Cologne is one 
of the manufacturer's largest European sites. It currently employs 
11,500 people, which is a huge number, but there were still 20,000 
working there in 2018. Ford is still negotiating another round of job 
cuts, and the IG Metall union is refusing to do so, demanding instead 
that the automaker find another way to save money. According to some 
sources, Ford's German branch has accumulated some EUR9 billion in debt. 
Ford has launched its European branch full-throttle towards 
electrification, without any backup plan. Cologne, until July 2023, 
produced the Fiesta, the brand's best-selling car. Today, only the 
electric Explorer and Capri models are produced there, which found 8,500 
and 2,500 buyers respectively in the first quarter of 2025. Production 
of the Focus will cease next November, which will put 3,500 of the 4,500 
workers at the Saarlouis plant out of work, which will simply operate to 
support other factories in the group, until its scheduled closure in 2032.

Argentina: Hospital staff protest against wages and working conditions
Medical and administrative staff at Garrahan Hospital, a leading 
pediatric center in Buenos Aires, have staged a protest demanding urgent 
pay raises from the government. The demonstration follows growing unrest 
in the country's public health sector, with a federal prosecutor now 
investigating the health minister for alleged arbitrary management of 
the cancer institution. While resident doctors were promised a pay rise 
from EUR580 to EUR950, the proposed increase excludes more than 90% of 
permanent staff. Union leaders warn that the partial increase could 
deepen tensions and lead to further strikes. Nearly 200 employees have 
already resigned, citing deteriorating working conditions and 
insufficient salaries to cover basic costs under Milei's drastic 
austerity program.

Workers' Mobilization in Tierra del Fuego
From May 14 to 23, the metallurgical industry in Tierra del Fuego, 
Argentina, was paralyzed by a strike. Supported by nearly 10,000 
workers, it was called by the Metallurgical Workers' Union (UOM), the 
sole union and member of the Peronist CGT. The strike followed the 
announcement of a significant reduction in import taxes on a number of 
electronic products. These taxes had previously protected an entire 
industry in Tierra del Fuego, which could therefore eliminate thousands 
of jobs. The union leadership, after a vote by delegates, announced that 
an agreement had been signed with the bosses, who allegedly agreed not 
to lay off workers before December and to pay for strike days, in 
exchange for an immediate end to the movement. The signing was 
contested, with strikers demanding that meetings be held in the streets, 
in the presence of the press. While work has resumed, nothing has likely 
been resolved.

Strikes in Iran
In Iran, some 400,000 trucks provide the bulk of freight transportation. 
The majority of drivers own a single vehicle, while the most precarious 
rent them at high prices or team up with an independent contractor. 
Since May 19, tens of thousands of Iranian truck drivers have been on 
strike against rising fuel and insurance prices. The strike has affected 
nearly 140 cities, paralyzing transportation, and is beginning to spread 
to other categories. The strike began in Bandar Abbas, a coastal city 
near the Strait of Hormuz, after an explosion at the nearby port 
destroyed trucks and killed several drivers. The strike has spread to 
include taxi and small pickup truck drivers.
For their part, bakers have been mobilizing since May 17 against rising 
energy and insurance prices, against malfunctions in the software that 
manages the subsidized distribution of bread and flour, and against the 
untimely power outages that regularly disrupt their production.

New call for strike at LIDL
In early February, the CFDT, CGT, CFTC, FO, and CFE-CGC unions called 
for a strike for similar reasons and to demand a wage increase. It was 
poorly supported by the group's 46,000 employees and was suspended after 
four days. The inter-union organization at the LIDL retailer (CFDT, CGT, 
CFTC, FO) is calling on "all employees" to strike four days a week (from 
Thursday to Sunday) to demand "decent working conditions." In a leaflet, 
the unions denounce an "exponential increase in workload" that 
"ruins[their]health" and "oppose the obligation to work on Sundays and 
public holidays." They reject the brand's race for performance. These 
union organizations also denounce "a massive reduction in staff numbers" 
and "management that is deaf to the suffering of employees." The Unsa 
(French National Union for the Advancement of Workers), the group's 
leading union, is not a signatory to this leaflet calling for a rolling 
strike.
While the strike is struggling to take hold in France, the brand 
indicates that a blockade of five distribution centers is being led in 
Belgium by activist members of the ACVPuls/CNE union. Among the unions' 
demands are, among other things, a structural lack of staff, an 
obligation to restock store shelves every week without sufficient staff, 
and overtime worked outside of the hours permitted by law.

Strikes in the Companies of the Union of Champagne Houses
The Union of Champagne Houses (UMC) brings together the major champagne 
wine distribution brands. Employees of these brands benefit from a 
separate collective agreement that makes them a labor aristocracy. 
Strikes began in January during the mandatory annual negotiations (NAO) 
on wages. The UMC proposed a 1.01% increase (1.6% to 1.7%), while the 
unions are demanding a 3.13% increase in income ("We are ready to sign 
at 1.8%"). "Participation has fallen by 40%, profit-sharing by 7%, and 
the value-sharing bonus (PPV ex-Macron bonus) by 50%. Some employees 
have lost EUR8,000 in compensation over a year; this is unacceptable!" 
Numerous strikes will take place against the reduction of wages to the 
minimum wage and poor distribution of wealth, either collectively on the 
days of negotiations or company by company.
Since the beginning of May, the announcement of the elimination of 1,200 
jobs (10% of the workforce) at Moët Hennessy Champagne Services (MHCS) 
has been mobilizing. This reduction in the payroll, without any 
compulsory layoffs in France, is worrying. Around a hundred positions 
are said to be affected in the Marne region. In France, MHCS represents 
the champagnes Moët & Chandon, Mercier, Ruinart, Veuve Clicquot, Krug, 
Dom Pérignon, Armand de Brignac (50% of the shares, the other part 
remaining owned by rapper Jay-Z), Hennessy cognac, Clos des Lambrays in 
Burgundy (acquired in 2014), Château Cheval Blanc in Saint Emilion, and 
Château d'Yquem in Sauternes. LVMH's champagne division has 
approximately 2,500 employees, nearly EUR250 million in salaries, EUR250 
million in taxes, nearly EUR700 million in purchases (grapes or dry 
goods), and EUR100 million in investments per year. In 2024, LVMH will 
have a turnover of EUR84 billion and a profit of EUR20 billion. To put 
pressure on management and obtain answers, several hundred Moët & 
Chandon employees demonstrated in the courtyard of the prestigious house 
on Avenue de Champagne in Épernay on June 3, 2025. Among the 
demonstrators were employees on fixed-term contracts. "We came to see 
for information," explained two women who work on short-term contracts 
in production at Moët. They fear their contracts will not be renewed. 
"We've already noticed a decline in business," noted one. "And then our 
contracts have changed." We went from six months to just two."
Pernod Ricard, which owns two champagne houses (Mumm and Perrier-Jouët), 
is reportedly considering selling its GH Mumm champagne brand. 
Currently, there are walkouts over wages ("15 minutes in the morning and 
evening" at Perrier-Jouët). Union representatives were present at the 
June 3 demonstration at Moët.

ArcelorMittal in Haumont: anger and strike over wages
The strike began spontaneously on April 8, after management announced 
during wage negotiations that it would not grant any raises. Management 
even refused to grant the EUR1,000 bonus that other factories in the 
same group had received. For the workers, paid barely more than the 
minimum wage, some of whom are on EUR1,600 after thirty years of 
service, this was a flashpoint. The strikers gathered at the factory 
entrance for three days, between discussions with truck drivers who were 
stopping by. During the negotiations, the CGT union demanded a 3% raise 
and the EUR1,000 bonus. The Hautmont factory was not alone in the 
movement. The Chevillon factory, in Haute Marne, also remained on strike 
for several days for the same reasons. In Hautmont, management granted a 
EUR500 bonus immediately, and another EUR500 in October if the financial 
result "breaks even." Another EUR400 bonus at the end of the second half 
is conditional on catching up on production delays. The strikers decided 
to return to work with the feeling of having won a victory against the 
giant ArcelorMittal.
Following a Social and Economic Committee (CSE) meeting on April 23 at 
the headquarters in Saint-Denis, the group's management plans to cut 400 
production jobs and 230 support positions at the seven ArcelorMittal 
France Nord sites: Dunkirk, Florange, Basse-Indre, Mardyck, Mouzon, 
Desvres, and Montataire, which employ a total of some 7,100 people. 
Faced with the announcement of job cuts at 7 sites, and after a 
successful May 1st in Dunkirk, May 13th saw a strong surge in Paris, at 
the steelmaker's headquarters in St Denis (especially from Florange and 
Dunkirk).

Strike and blockade at Lubrizol Rouen and Le Havre
After a determined struggle (strike and blockade for a week), we learned 
on May 5th that Lubrizol was abandoning the PSE announced at the 
beginning of February at the Rouen and Le Havre sites. An announcement 
seen more as a reprieve than a victory. On May 23rd, a strike began at 
the sites in question, to obtain compensation following the bosses' 
distressing announcements.

2.5 months of strike at Maintenance Industrie
After two and a half months of strike (since February 24th), the 
strikers won: Maintenance Industrie, a Parisian cleaning company, is 
obliged to grant permanent working hours! The boss granted most of the 
strikers who requested it additional hours beyond their current 
part-time work. The strikers obtained from 24 minutes to 2.5 hours extra 
per employee, depending on their requests. That's an average of one hour 
per day and about twenty hours extra per month. This is a real gain, in 
the employment contract.

Strike against layoffs at Saverglass
Saverglass, a multinational and world leader in luxury glassware, had 
proposed a 7% wage cut to "save jobs." It then announced a redundancy 
plan for 139 layoffs at the Le Havre site it plans to close. The CGT, 
UNSA, CFDT, and CFTC inter-union called for a strike lasting several 
hours on May 21 and 22. The first two days were successful, with 
strikers able to count on the support of passersby and locals, as well 
as their colleagues from other sites of the company, as well as dockers, 
Siemens workers, and Total employees.

Fight against 155 layoffs at Domo Belle-Étoile
At the Domo Belle-Étoile chemical plant south of Lyon, which has around 
650 employees, the workers' struggle continues in the face of the 155 
layoffs announced in mid-March. Since an initial rally on April 8, shift 
workers have taken initiatives against these layoffs: a movement of 
renewable walkouts, which halts production, was launched by those in the 
north of the plant and those at the thermal power plant, the latter 
having been requisitioned by the prefecture. Several dozen workers, both 
day laborers and shift workers, gathered in front of the plant on June 2 
and 3 to distribute leaflets and convince their colleagues to intensify 
the movement. On June 5 and 6, the entrances to the site were completely 
blocked, for cars and trucks alike. A delegation participated in the 
rally organized by the CGT in front of the Medef on June 5. The workers 
refuse to be sacrificed for the major maneuvers of the chemical 
companies and continue to demand a higher-than-legal bonus of at least 
80,000 euros in addition to the Domo bonus (calculated according to 
salary and seniority) for the laid-off employees.

https://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4504
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