The Stellantis factory in Rennes experienced another shutdown after a month. Partial unemployment affects the workers for a week starting from Monday, November 27. The cause lies in the automotive sector crisis, which is struggling with a component shortage post-pandemic. This year, global car production has fallen short by 2.8 million units. Earlier in November, the suspension impacted the 2,000 employees for a week, and now the situation repeats itself. This results in a salary reduction, despite the partial activity agreement in place.
Stellantis: production halts again at its Rennes plant
CFDT representative Laurent Valy sheds light on the situation with Stellantis’ Rennes plant: “Work suspensions are becoming frequent; we started November with a suspension, and now we are ending the month with another one. This means a loss of income for the workers, partially offset by a multi-year partial work agreement signed by the CFDT, but not completely. Our primary concern is the future.”
The component shortage stems from various unclear origins. The condition of partial work recurs often, as Laurent Valy explains: “In early November, we faced issues with parts coming from Septfonds (in Tarn-et-Garonne) and going through Caen for connections. Now, we are dealing with problems related to gearboxes from Asia, particularly Japan. Challenges keep emerging, and unfortunately, behind us is a stalled factory. The causes were more identifiable previously: we had the Covid issue, transport problems of components, especially from Asia, and the semiconductor issue that affected the entire global industry.” We will see if the Stellantis group can definitively overcome its production problems at the Rennes plant.