GE says French factories laid off will not close

PARIS (Reuters) – A General Electric (GE) plant in eastern France, where the US group plans to fire, will not close. The group is studying alternative solutions, including the construction of aerospace parts, announced the French boss of GE in an interview.

The plans announced last Tuesday for more than 1,000 potential layoffs, mainly targeted at the Belfort plant, led the French Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, to declare that he would fight to preserve jobs on the site at the start of negotiations with the unions.

GE said the initiative was aimed at making its operations more efficient in France in response to the contraction of the power plant market. Belfort manages the technologies of gas, steam, nuclear power and hydraulics.

In an interview published Sunday in French newspaper Du Dimanche, Hugh Bailey, CEO of GE in France, said that sales of gas turbines in Belfort had halved between 2017 and 2018 and that the group was struggling to remain competitive.

"That said, I want to be clear, Belfort will not close," Bailey said. "It will remain GE Power's first industrial site in Europe."

Bailey said that gas electricity still had a future, but that other fast – growing areas, such as renewable energy and energy storage, could also be essential.

He said that GE companies located in other countries could be affected by the restructuring, but did not give details.

"GE's energy difficulties are well known. With regard to this project (job cuts), the announcement is part of a global decision, which is then adapted at European level, country by country, "Bailey told JDD.

The French industrial group Alstom was the largest employer in Belfort until 2014, when it sold its gas turbine manufacturing business to GE, which is committed to creating 1,000 jobs in the UK. to benefit from the support of the French government.

However, the company had to break this commitment with the collapse of the gas turbine power plant market. In February, GE agreed to pay 50 million euros ($ 56 million) to a reindustrialization fund for failing to achieve the goal.