In the North, employees block the Tereos factory in Escaudoeuvres

Dozens of employees of the Tereos factory in Escaudoeuvres have been blocking entrances and exits to the site since Wednesday, to protest against its upcoming closure, just announced by the sugar giant. A tractor was installed in the morning across the entrance by the employees, who burned a mountain of tires and wooden planks.

“No to closing“, could we read on a sheet hung on the gates of the factory. “We are blocking the outflow of sugar, the 40,000 tonnes that are in the silo and seeds for the next campaign“Said Adrien Fené, 36, boilermaker and CGT secretary of the CSE. For him, the factory closes for “maximize profitsof Tereos, becausethe Escaudoeuvres site has never caused the group to lose money“.

job cuts

Tereos, owner of Beghin-Say, announced on Wednesday the closure of this sugar factory, as well as a distillery, which could lead to the elimination of 149 jobs, as part of a “reorganization of its industrial activity in France“. Escaudoeuvres, 123 positions, should close in three months, due to a “decrease in committed beet volumes, which is mainly explained by agronomic reasons (crop rotation, drought, jaundice)“, according to the group.

Management says it wants to favor a reclassification of employees by proposing “various positions at other sites” In the region. “We could not have expected the closure of this factory when the group has invested more than 60 million euros in five years.“, reacted Nicolas Siegler, president (right) of the agglomeration of Cambrai, who came on the spot. “It is the industrial heart of this territory that is slowing down“, he lamented. The sugar giant Tereos was recently ordered in Lille to pay more than 9 million euros in damages for having polluted the Scheldt in 2020, due to a lack of maintenance of the Escaudoeuvres site.

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