The Lisi Automotive factory is closing in France: Morocco among the big beneficiaries

Gathered around a pallet fire, the striking workers are still struggling to realize the imminent disappearance of their workplace. "It was so brutal and violent, we didn’t expect this..." they confide to the newspaper Le Parisien, marked by an announcement they describe as "savage".

Since 1958, this factory has been a benchmark in the manufacture of fastening parts for automotive giants such as Renault, Stellantis or Mercedes. Specialized in clip-on parts, the site in the Val-d’Oise had unique know-how, to the point that its own teams had been called upon to train the recruits of the new factory in Tangier, Morocco. A worker is outraged by this backlash: "Everything has been developed here, we are the thinkers! And now they are going to export our production!"

The group’s management justifies this sacrifice by a "structural crisis in the automotive market" and a surge in energy costs. For Vincent Quinaux, the general manager of the division, the assessment is clear: "The site is not competitive." The company plans to transfer production to its factories in Germany, Hungary and Morocco to respond to the pressure from manufacturers demanding ever lower prices.

The dismantling will take place in two stages: plastic production will stop this summer, followed by metal production in October. While the group promises internal redeployments, particularly in its aerospace division, they involve geographical mobility towards Bordeaux, Toulouse or Troyes, far from the Paris region. For the 135 workers concerned, the future looks uncertain and painful.

Currently, the employees do not intend to return to work before the start of the negotiations scheduled for January 28. They denounce a hidden stock strategy, claiming that they were asked to work during the end-of-year holidays under the pretext of urgent orders. "Even on the 31st I was there," sighs a setter who has still not found the strength to announce the news to his loved ones. The tug-of-war with management has only just begun.