Valeo employees in Suze-sur-Sarthe are striking to save their jobs, as the future of Europe’s car industry remains in doubt due to competition and downsizing.
ADVERTISINGDozens of funerary crosses line the road leading to the factory. auto parts giant Valeoin the northwest of France. Each of them contains the names of the almost 300 employees who are at risk of lose his job in the coming weeks. Since Monday night, workers at this Suze-sur-Sarthe plant – in a region where the automobile industry is vital to the local economy – have been in strike.
The plant mainly produces battery cooling systems for electric vehicles for automotive giant Stellantis, which owns Opel, Fiat, Peugeot, Citroën and other brands. Two other factories in France are also on the verge of closing, which could affect 1,000 workers.
The impending announcement is a constant source of stress and anxiety for employees. “We have seen many people cry, some have even collapsed,” explains Odile Nasarre, materials engineer and union representative. “We have also seen some who they have decided to leave because they didn’t want to see the result. There are a dozen couples here. It will affect many families,” he told ‘Euronews’.
The employees decided to set paper crosses at the factory gates. Didier, a research and development engineer, shows us his cross, on which he has scribbled the years 1991-2025, which symbolize the 34 years who has been working at Valeo. “Everything ends on a slightly because“he explains, pointing to the sad face he has drawn next to the dates.
At 57 years old, he does not believe that professional reconversion is planned in the event of the factory closing. “The average age in the factory it is 53 years. With the various unemployment and pension reforms, people find themselves in a situation where they have to work seven to eight more years before they can retire,” explains Franck Goulette, union representative at Valeo.
“Many are wondering: ‘What am I going to do? The unemployment benefits won’t last until I can retire.’ It’s a big concern for employees,” he told Euronews.
Recent French policies make the situation worse
In 2023, the French president Emmanuel Macron signed a very pension reform unpopularwhich raised the state retirement age from 62 to 64. The decline in car sales, search for cheaper labor abroad by companies like Valeo and the European Commission’s goal to move to fully electric vehicles by 2035 are causing a crisis in the automotive industry in France and across the EU.
Since 2012 70,000 jobs have been lost of work in the automobile industry in France. Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares said last week that he does not rule out the closure of factories in the coming months, citing fierce competition from Chinese rivals as a major concern.
In Germany, the leading European car manufacturer, Volkswagen, is considering closing one of its production centers for the first time in almost 90 years. The European Commission considering imposing heavy tariffs on cheap Chinese electric vehicles.
Many workers at the Valeo plant wonder if the automobile industry has a future in Europe. “In the year 2000 we were 2,000 here. Today we are less than 300. Will there be many of us who will continue working in the automotive industry in the future? That is the big question,” says Odile Nasarre.
‘Euronews’ contacted Valeo, but the company refused to answer any questions. The fate of the three factories should decide in mid-December.
