In Belfort, Alstom employees remain "vigilant" and "cautious" after management's announcements...

Demonstration by Alstom employees, Tuesday 4 October. SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP

A Belfort. Browse the two kilometers separating the Porte des Trois Chênes, the main entrance to the Alstom site, and the prefecture moored in the old town, the unions brought out an antique: a Peugeot 504 – an electric blue 4x4 model – whose rear has been fitted out for welcome a sound.

It is behind her that about 250 employees and trade unionists set off, Tuesday, October 4 around 9:30 a.m., waiting, feverish and disillusioned, for announcements from the government and the general management of Alstom to save the Belfortain site. " Ads ? I am waiting to see… ", loose Jacques, retired for five years after to have work "forty-five years and three months" to Traction (Alstom Transportation). "I'm still skeptical. Among the hypotheses put forward in the last forty-eight hours, the production of electric buses has been mentioned, but this is not Belfort's core business. While we're at it, why not make irons! Orders go being announced, that's for sure, but they will only be electoral orders. Without the 2017 presidential election, thinkyou that Hollande and Valls would struggle so much? »

"What is needed is develop en France rail freight »

Between the slogans “Alstom will live! » et "Alstom is Belfort and Belfort is Alstom!" » spat out by the sound system, Richard, 60, a former PSA employee, also retired, makes uncompromising remarks with regard to the staff policy. “I no longer believe in these promises at all, on the left or on the right. All politicians do nothing but lie. Remember the blast furnaces of Florange and the PSA factory in Aulnay-sous-Bois. Our rulers had promised to shoot business. We see the result with, in Aulnay, hundreds of employees still on the floor and of whom we no longer speak. »

Matthieu, a 52-year-old civil servant, continues: “What is happening now was predictable since the big sale of Alstom's energy branch with its sale to General Electric. » He was born and raised in the city of the Lion. “When I was a child, there were 6000 or 7000 employees at Alsthom [former company name]. In Belfort Nord, in the five-storey building where I lived, at least 70% of the accommodation was occupied by employees of Alsthom and Bull, and by their families. »

Read our report: In Belfort, the “Alsthommes” saga

Jacques speaks again: “What is needed is to develop rail freight in France. This is what will give job in Belfort over the long term! The abandonment by the government and Ségolène Royal of the ecotax was a monumental mistake. It probably did not please the bosses of the road transport sector, but it fit perfectly with the spirit of COP 21. "

Shortly after 11 am, in front of the prefecture, the first rumors of announcements fuse. The meeting between the Secretary of State forindustry, Christophe Sirugue, the CEO of Alstom, Henri Poupart-Lafarge, is not yet at his epilogue. "Apparently, it's not that bad., drops an insert at the CGT checking his cell phone voicemail. The transfer of the manufacture of TGV locomotives and motor cars to the Reichshoffen site in Alsace would be deleted. » Then the announcements multiply and are made official even before the press conference scheduled for noon.

“Around one million euros” from local authorities

“We won a battle, not the war”, says Olivier Kohler, CFDT representative, on leaving the prefecture. “All the announcements that have just been made are a complete reversal on the part of Alstom's general management. Of course, this makes us happy, but let's remain vigilant, cautious. Admittedly, the horizon has just free until 2020, but the future of the Belfort site is not guaranteed in the long term. After this date, orders will be needed, both in France and for export, to doing vivre the site. In any case, we will not let go. We will step up again if necessary”, he underlines, recalling the existence of a written commitment, signed jointly by Christophe Sirugue and Henri Poupart-Lafarge.

President of the region Burgundy-Franche-Comté, Marie-Guite Dufay wants to be more optimistic: “Three weeks ago, Alstom was talking about fermer the Belfort site, today it goes there achieve significant investments. » The elected socialist estimates at "about a million euros" the contribution of local communities to contribute the modernization of the site (including the electrification of the test track) and the improvement of its productivity. Wasn't the very brutal announcement of September 7 intended to put pressure on communities to encourage to put your hand in your pocket? To this question, Marie-Guite Dufay begins by opposer a long silence before to declare, lapidary: “The important thing now is to regarder to the future. »