The EU ban on tyre imports from Russia has hit one company particularly hard: Nokian Tyres. Prior to February 2022, the Finnish manufacturer produced 17 million tyres a year in a factory near St. Petersburg, 82 per cent of its global output. Ten million of these were exported, mainly to Europe. This has no longer been possible since 10 July, with consequences for Nokian Tyres’ Central Europe sales region.
Michelin has announced its intention to “evolve” its activities in its France by means of a three-year competitiveness plan covering all of its manufacturing, corporate and administrative operations within the country. The company is taking this step as a response to “profound, structural shifts in the global tyre market” over the past decade that have been “led by the massive influx of low-cost products.” The plan could see up to 2,300 of the 20,000 Michelin jobs in France cut over the coming three years.
Lay-off talks between Vredestein and employees at its Enschede factory in The Netherlands have not resulted in an agreement. The talks were prompted by the management’s announcement in early March that the firm is moving much of its production to Hungary. Since this will result in laying off around 750 of the 1,200 employees, a works council was developed in order to formulate an alternative proposal. However, according to various local news reports, the proposal was not received positively by the company management.
Michelin’s plan to close its truck tyre factory in La Roche-sur-Yon, France took a step forward last Thursday when it signed an employee support agreement with four trade unions. This agreement with the CFDT, CFE‑CGC, SUD and FO unions followed 12 weeks of negotiations that took place between October and January.
Upon concluding negotiations with employee representatives today, Nokian Tyres has announced it will make 41 workers at its plant in Nokia, Finland redundant. The tyre maker adds that 11 of these redundancies will take the form of retirement or “other agreed arrangements”. It is also still evaluating the possibility of relocating employees within the group, a measure that may decrease the total number of job reductions.
The Michelin Group informed the 619 employees at its tyre production facility in La Roche-sur-Yon, France this morning that it will close the site by the end of next year. In addition, 74 people at Michelin’s Cholet plant, employees working in roles related to the supply of rubber mixed to the La Roche-sur-Yon site, are also affected by the closure.
Numerous news sources are reporting that, following the closure of Goodyear’s Venezuela factory, ex-employees are being given 10 tyres each as part of their severance payment.
Staff representatives and Michelin managers at the French tyre maker’s Ballymena, Northern Ireland truck tyre factory are discussing redundancy packages following the news that the factory is to close in mid-2018. Michelin representatives declined to comment on individual cases, but local press reports suggest particular offers have already been made.
According to Germany’s Osthessen News, Goodyear Dunlop Tires Germany GmbH intends to rescind the contract it holds with 7,500 German employees. The contract, which has been in force for 17 years and renegotiated four times during this period, guaranteed the retention of the company’s seven sites in Germany and protection from business-related redundancies. Ines Sauer, Works Council chair at Goodyear Dunlop’s Fulda facility, told Osthessen News that she and the German operation’s Central Works Council were informed of Goodyear Dunlop’s plans to end the contract late last month.
When the news broke that Unipart had entered administration, it will have been something of a blow for the 1800-odd “loyal” employees of the company. Indeed the only good thing for employees was the end of the speculation roller coaster than began with managers suggesting a rescue could come in 36 hours, followed by reports that Euro Car Parts was a front runner, and finally the announcement two weeks later that nothing could be done for the company. But what about staff?
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Tyrepress.com / Stephen Goodchild