A hundred paper makers in France met at the foot of Bercy, in Paris, Wednesday, April 28, to demand state aid against the relocation of the last paper recycling center located in the suburbs of Rouen. “Save the Darblay Chapel! “ : the collective More never that!, which brings together unions and associations, called for a “Act of disobedience” early Thursday morning to hear from the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire.
Smoke, banners, wooden mannequins carrying safety vests and “SOS” signs from CGT, FSU, Solidaires, Greenpeace and Attac were launched into the Seine. “We need to push harder to save the Darblay Chapel. This fight represents the future of industry in France, this factory represents a third of French paper recycling ”, explained the union delegate of the CGT, Cyril Biffault, in front of a large banner stretched out on the quai de Bercy proclaiming “So that industry rhymes with ecology”.
Without a buyer since it was put on sale in 2019 by the Finnish paper giant UPM, the Chapelle Darblay factory in Grand-Couronne (Seine-Maritime) is kept in working order until June 15, when the machines will be sent. on a new site in South America, according to the collective.
“We have a factory that (…) combines industry and ecology with competent employees and we have an owner who refuses to sell, while there are buyers. And a state that tells us: “if the owner doesn’t want to sell, what do you want me to do?” So what is required of Bercy, of M. Le Maire (…) is that they say in writing: “yes, we undertake to reopen the site as soon as possible” ”, added the secretary general of the CGT, Philippe Martinez.
After almost four hours of presence, Greenpeace France regretted in a tweet that the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, and his counterpart delegate to the industry, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, “Refuse” to receive them. “My door is open to trade unions. I regret that the hand extended this morning was refused ”, replied a little later on Twitter Mme Pannier-Runacher.
For more than 18 months I have been working alongside employee representatives and local elected officials to give an endorsement… https://t.co/s9P5zomlYW
“Symbol of social and solidarity economy”
La Chapelle Darblay, where 228 people were made redundant in 2020, represents a “Symbol of social and solidarity economy”, according to Greenpeace. “There are enough fine words on the ecological and social transition. If this government wants to be credible, let it start by saving this factory at Chapelle Darblay, declared the spokesperson of Attac, Aurélie Found. Today we are expecting a concrete and firm commitment [de Bercy]. As long as we don’t have this commitment, we stay there. “” We must be attentive to the takeover of the industrial site, we want Bruno Le Maire to get involved, he is able to influence the choice of the buyer “, said the Executive Director of Oxfam France, Cécile Duflot.
The collective was born in March 2020 with the publication of a column signed in particular by Les Amis de la Terre, Attac, the CGT, the Confédération paysanne, the FSU, Greenpeace, Oxfam, the union union Solidaires, with the objective of “To rebuild together an ecological, feminist and social future” facing “Neoliberal disorder”. A meeting of the local branches of the collective by videoconference is scheduled for May 28 and 29, according to the CGT.