Nantes: Saunier Duval heat pump and boiler factory plans to cut 250 jobs

Nantes heating equipment manufacturer Saunier Duval will be the subject of a labor protection plan (PSE) that involves the elimination of 250 jobs, the site director confirmed on Wednesday, according to information from AFP. Ocean Press. It is manufactured by the Saunier Duval factory – a subsidiary of the German Vaillant group heat pumps and gas boilers “are in crisis from June 2023,” says its director, Yuna Josse. In the afternoon, the employees of the site left work French Blue.

“In three years, we went from a capacity of 20,000 heat pumps to over 120,000, and in June 2023, everything came to an extremely abrupt halt with sales and volumes down more than 40%. “We were partially unemployed from October 2023,” he explains. According to him, the reason for this is inflation and “the slowdown in the real estate market, whether in new construction or renovation.” Number of assisted apartments MaPrimeRenov’ In 2023, it decreased by 15%.

There are currently 900 positions on the site. The layoffs are “almost exclusively” in the industrial division, which currently employs 750 people. Negotiations with trade union organizations should begin in September. After the approval of the plan by the labor inspectorate, according to Yuna Hossein, “the first voluntary departures will take place in January 2025.”

Voluntary departures and revaluation of order books

“We will review the situation in mid-March to see if voluntary departures are sufficient. We will also take into account the market situation. Only then can we implement economic cuts,” he clarified.

The heat pump is the process of heating or cooling air that involves extracting calories from the air or ground to heat buildings in addition to electricity. The system emits less greenhouse gas like CO2 than oil or gas heating.

CFDT condemns the “extremely violent” announcement

In April, the government presented an action plan aimed at producing one million heat pumps a year from 2027, which would create 45,000 jobs. This production target, which would triple the current level, was announced by President Emmanuel Macron in September as part of the government’s plan to reduce CO2 emissions.

CFDT, the majority union, described the announcement as “extremely severe”. French Blue. He invites the company « to restore volumes (of boiler production) transferred to Slovakia and Turkey to limit the number of job cuts” in Nantes.

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