Friday 30 November 2012

The Michelin Factory

The Michelin factory in Joué-les-Tours employs hundreds of people and stretches as far as the eye can see in this photo. Sadly it is struggling financially. Several times this year there have been compulsory temporary lay-offs of a couple of hundred staff for a day or two. This arrangement is called chomage technique in French and is a means for the company to stand staff down and have the state benefits system pay them temporarily. After the lay-off ends the staff go back to work as normal. It is not just used in times of financial trouble, but can be used for any temporary difficulty the company finds itself in (for example, an accident such as a chemical leak which forces the closure of a plant because it is temporarily too dangerous to work).

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6 comments:

Jean said...

That seems like a sensible idea. Better than trying to keep everyone on full pay until there's no money left, the company closes and hundreds of people have no job at all.

Diane said...

Great tyres though. We drove overland from the UK, to what was then Rhodesia with out a single puncture. Yea for Michelin. Have a good weekend Diane

Leon Sims said...

Michelin on our Traction Avant naturally, oh yes and on our Alfa 105 Coupe.
Love that little fat man.......

Amanda said...

Michelin tires are very popular in the US too as they are good quality. I hope the company will rebound.
Sadly, the economy is bad everywhere, all types of businesses really.

Pollygarter said...

The factory had its fiftieth anniversary a short while ago and there was a big article in the paper. There was a picture of the first tyre off the production line - a 2CV tyre, naturally!

Susan said...

Célestine has brand new Michelin tyres, as she would have when new. Luckily the car club we belong to gets them at a tremendous discount.

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