Workers at an ailing car parts factory in central France have claimed to have destroyed equipment and “booby-trapped” the site to pressure the country’s carmakers to keep the plant afloat.
Around 280 jobs are on the line at the GM&S Industry factory, a supplier to Peugeot Citroen and Renault, that was placed in receivership in December.
The workers accuse PSA and Renault of giving too few orders to the factory, situated about 50km north of the city of Limoges in La Souterraine.
Yesterday they cut a machine in half with a blowtorch and were planning to wreck another, union representative Vincent Labrousse told AFP.
Labrousse said that they had also “booby-trapped” the site with gas canisters and petrol cans.
“We refuse to be given the runaround one minute longer,” he said. “We’ve been fighting for six months, and are sorry it has come to this, but the risk is that it (the plant) will be liquidated.”
“If that happens the factory will not be given back intact,” he warned.
GM&S has been trying for weeks to get order commitments from Peugeot and Renault for the site, as sought by a French automotive supplier interested in taking over the plant.
On Wednesday, trade unions said the government-brokered talks had failed.