Peugeot

In France there are 300-400 suicides a year directly attributable to working conditions according to Christian Larose, vice-president of the social and economic council of the CGT. Roughly one worker is killing him/herself a day because of the job that they have.

The workers, employed by subcontractors unsuccessfully demanded a meeting with management. Workers from Aulnay (Seine-Saint-Denis) have been on strike since the 28th of February. Their demands for a salary increase of 300e per month and for a minimum monthly salary of 1500 euros were described as "unacceptable" by management.

The following article was written by comrades from the Czech Republic. Following their analysis of the strike at Skoda they investigated the development of the car industry in the Czech Republic more thoroughly, concentrating on Škoda/Volkswagen, TPCA (Toyota Peugeot Citroën Automobile) and the suppliers.

This followed a wildcat strike by workers at the Vauxhall plant at Ellesmere Port after an announcement that one shift was going to be dropped. This is likely to lead to 1,000 job losses at the plant, which produces the Astra series of cars. Workers downed tools immediately following the announcement and were joined by the next shift who refused to start work.

"Peugeot made a profit of over one million euros last year, and how did it repay its workers and the Ryton plant near Coventry? Not with bonuses and pay rises, but with redundancy. The workers at Ryton have been making the most successful car in the company’s history the Peugeot 206, therefore the unions have stated that the plant is profitable.