Bridgestone Béthune closure ‘a premeditated assassination’ – Bertrand
Élisabeth Borne, French minister of Labour, Employment and Integration and Agnès Pannier-Runache, secretary of state for Economy and Finance, and Xavier Bertrand, council president of the Hauts-de-France region, co-signed a strongly worded statement in ‘total disagreement’ with Bridgestone’s decision to shutter its Béthune plant
The president of the Hauts-de-France region has labelled Bridgestone’s planned closure of its Béthune tyre manufacturing plant “brutal” and a “premeditated assassination.” For good measure, Xavier Bertrand added “we are dealing with cynics and liars” in his strongly-worded response to Bridgestone’s announcement. In a joint statement with the French government, Bertrand’s Hauts-de-France Region called on the Bridgestone group to “assume its responsibilities,” alleging that the company’s divestment from and allocation of low-margin tyres to the Béthune plant over the last decade has “automatically” led to its deficit in competitiveness.
Bridgestone’s statement on the planned closure had previously stressed that the decision to shutter the Béthune plant was a decision it was “not taking lightly”, and that it is “fully aware of the social consequences of this project and is committed to using all means at its disposal to define support plans for each employee.” Laurent Dartoux, CEO of Bridgestone EMIA, also said that “there is no other solution to overcome the challenges that we are facing in Europe.”
In a tweet signposting his opposition to the decision, Bertrand said the closure was “unacceptable,” and that he and the French government “dispute its brutality, its relevance and its foundations.”
La fermeture du site #Bridgestone de #Béthune est inacceptable. Avec @AgnesRunacher et @Elisabeth_Borne, nous en contestons la brutalité, la pertinence et les fondements. pic.twitter.com/c8lCTQAJ3p
— Xavier Bertrand (@xavierbertrand) September 16, 2020
💬 “Une fermeture complète de ce site, c’est un assassinat prémédité. On a affaire à des cyniques et des menteurs.”
➡ Xavier Bertrand réagit à l’annonce de la fermeture du site de Bridgestone à Béthune pic.twitter.com/39nqHPFobg
— BFM Grand Lille (@BFMGrandLille) September 16, 2020
Total disagreement: French ministers respond to Bridgestone
The three senior representatives of national and regional-level government openly stated their “total disagreement” with Bridgestone’s decision. The statement outlines the administrations’ disgust with Bridgestone’s announcement.
“The State and the Hauts-de-France Region are calling on Bridgestone Corporation to shoulder its responsibilities, even though it has largely divested the Béthune plant for many years in favour of its other European sites, automatically resulting a competitive disadvantage, and in addition has allocated to the site low-margin products whose market is in continuous decline,” wrote Borne, Pannier-Runache and Bertrand.
The trio stress that France’s government and the Haut-de-France Region will support employees with the “sole objective” of maintaining industrial employment at the Béthune site. Representatives and officials are now taking stock of the situation before deciding upon the next steps they will take.
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