HANOVER, Germany (June 8, 2009)—Workers at Continental A.G.'s passenger tire plant in Clairoix, France, have agreed to a settlement package covering the planned closing of the factory by year-end, but the package still needs to be ratified by the central works council.
The deal, reached after weeks of negotiations involving French unions, Continental management and French government officials, offers a one-time payment of roughly $70,000 per employee, Conti said. The agreement affects 1,120 employees.
Conti stressed production will stop at the plant by Dec. 31 at the latest.
“We are pleased that we have already come up with a solution before the end of the four-week negotiation phase,” said Thomas Winkelmann, Conti's human resources manager for the passenger tire replacement business in Europe and Africa.
Winkelmann said negotiations dragged out because French union representatives had focused on negotiating the highest possible uniform one-off severance payment.
Once the central works council approves the agreement, Conti will then be able to explain to each individual employee the exact provisions of the redundancy plan, Winkelmann said.