ST’s Crolles strike rumbles on
Workers at ST’s Crolles chip manufacturing campus near Grenoble, France are continuing to protest over a reduction in their wages, according to local reports.
Workers held a rally outside the Isere Prefecture building in Grenoble on Tuesday, April 14. The previous week nearly 250 people marched in a parade under police supervision, according to FranceTV3.
The workers first went on strike in March complaining that their profit sharing incentive had been reduced for the second year running (see ST’s Crolles workers go on strike). According to the reports workers are angry that they are facing a 43 percent reduction in their profit-sharing bonus – equivalent to €1,000 (about $1,100) for some workers – while the company $500 million was found for share buy backs and to pay dividends.
According to an article in www.placegrenet.fr management met with union representatives on April 2 and 3 but it came to a "disappointing conclusion" from the CGT union’s point of view with no offer of improved compensation. "The leadership retreats into a monologue and remains deaf to the concerns of employees, the article quoted the CGT as saying.
The Crolles site is one of ST’s most advanced manufacturing sites and hosts 200mm and a 300mm fabs. However, the 300mm fab, officially opened in 2003, has been used largely as an R&D and pilot production fab with a view to higher volume digital designs being put out to foundry suppliers as part of a fab-lite strategy.
ST was approached for comment on the strike but had not responded by the time this article was posted.
Related links and articles:
Place Gre’net article
FranceTV 3 article
ST’s Crolles workers go on strike
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