Alstom : the elected officials of Belfort remind, the branch – Point

Less than a month after the agreement reached between the management of Alstom and the State to save the site of Belfort, voices are raised already, to point flaws. Elected officials belfortains criticize this Saturday at the direction of Alstom to “denature” the commitments made at the beginning of October and are asking the government to enforce them. “Last October 4, in the framework of a joint declaration with the State, the commitment had been made by Alstom to invest 30 million euros in the program of development of shunting locomotives in the range H4 diesel “, explained the mayor of Belfort, Damien Meslot, the president of the county Council, Florian Bouquet, and the senator Cédric Perrin, all three of the party , The Republicans, in a press release.

” Now, now Mr. Eyméoud (Jean-Baptiste Eyméoud, managing director (France) of Alstom, NOTE) misrepresents this commitment by stating that this investment is in fact already included in a program designed for the swiss railways “, they write, asking the secretary of State for Industry to ensure that ” the obligations to which the parties are forced to be respected “.

The unions, ” fleeced “

Friday, Andre Fages, a trade union delegate CFE-CGC Alstom Belfort, had also stated to the Agency France-Presse that the unions felt “cheated” by the manner in which management intended to apply the agreement announced in early October, after the election Thursday of a central committee for the establishment at Paris. A spokesperson for Alstom has assured on Saturday that the 30 million euros would serve ” as intended to develop the platform of hybrid locomotives Prima H4 “. “In the State’s plan, there is a contract for shunting locomotives and cargo of this kind “, she added. “The objective is the development of different versions of the Prima H4 for the swiss railways and future clients “, she said.

Invoking a calendar command to be inadequate, the direction of the group French rail had announced in September its intention to transfer the production of Belfort on another site, causing an outcry among the employees, as local elected representatives and the government, which holds 20% of the vote to the board of directors of Alstom. On 4 October, the government had announced hundreds of millions of euros of orders for trains and locomotives to Alstom. For its part, the group was committed to invest in the medium term in its plant in Belfort and to diversify its activities, including electric buses.