‘Goodyear to to close French site’

An employee from the Goodyear tyre company in Amiens, northern France, burns tyres at the entrance of a factory during a demonstration to protest against the announcement of layoffs in the Goodyear Amiens' factory.

An employee from the Goodyear tyre company in Amiens, northern France, burns tyres at the entrance of a factory during a demonstration to protest against the announcement of layoffs in the Goodyear Amiens' factory.

Published Jan 25, 2013

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Paris - Goodyear is to announce that it will close a factory in Amiens, northern France that employs 1,250 people by the end of 2014, the French newspaper Le Monde said on Friday.

The report said that the news would be given to staff during a meeting on January 31 at the US tyre and rubber firm's French headquarters.

Goodyear France has not officially confirmed the decision but a source close to the company told AFP that closing the Amiens-Nord factory was “one possibility being considered by management.”

Le Monde said redundancies would affect employees who “produce car tyres, which is around half of the staff, and is no surprise given that management has been trying to get rid of the unit since 2008.”

Workers on the plant's farm vehicle tyre line would also be affected, Le Monde said, even though “the management had pledged until now to keep the line running until someone was found to take it over.”

With little demand for its products, Goodyear has suffered losses of about 50 million euros ($67 million) a year at the plant, the source close to the company said, “or around 50 euros per tyre.”

Goodyear withdrew a proposed voluntary redundancy plan in September 2012 after failing to agree terms after eight months of discussions.

A restructuring plan designed to shut down car tyre production at Amiens-Nord was rejected several times by French courts. - Sapa-AFP

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