Thanks to elders of Luxfer, the public authorities and the arrival of a new operator, Europlasma, the manufacture should resume on the site of Gerzat, after one year of stopping.
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Emblematic file of the deindustrialization of France, the Luxfer case finally finds its epilogue. Friday, January 7, a solution was found to restart the manufacture of oxygen bottles. Gathered around the prefect of Puy-de-Dôme, the Europlasma Industrialist, the representatives of the State, Clermont-Métropole and the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes confirmed their financial commitments, which should allow the new Company, Gerzat Forges, launching its production of aluminum containers by 2024. Two hundred direct jobs must be created.
Europlasma will bring 50 million euros, including $ 25 million. The state will grant a loan of € 15 million and a grant of 4.5 million euros. Clermont-Métropole will acquire the land and build the future factory for an amount of 34 million euros. The Regional Council will give 3 million euros on its side, especially for the training and acquisition of machines.
It is paradoxically the health crisis that has resulted in an activity promised to a virtual death. Manufacturer, among others, bottles of medical oxygen, Luxfer, installed since 1939 in the commune of Gerzat, in the northern suburbs of Clermont-Ferrand, saw its destiny tilt on November 26, 2018. Despite an activity Profitable, the Anglo-American group Luxfer Gas Cylinders announces the closure of its French factory, the only one to manufacture this type of products in continental Europe. On the key, 136 dismissals and a closed programmed in spring 2019.
“We were afraid that the direction destroys the machines”
On January 26, 2020 starts blocking the factory, which lasts fifty-six days. “We were afraid that the direction destroys the machines, especially two huge presses, before the sale of the site,” says Axel Peronczyk, young elected CGT to the Hygiene, Security and Working Conditions Committee. “In March, when France has been confined because of the Covid, we have collafined the factory and we returned home.” But, in the meantime, the game had changed. “We saw our bottles on TV, while the debate on sanitary sovereignty went up because of the shortage of masks.” Politics seize the case. As early as March 19, MP Puy-de-Dome Christine Pirès-Beaune requires the nationalization of Luxfer. The Communist MP André Chassaigne follows the step, followed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), Olivier Faure (PS) and Marine Le Pen (RN).
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