A wooden crucifix propped against the wall makes Novasco’s office, in Hagondange (Moselle), look like a large coffin. This Wednesday morning, many employees of France’s largest steel factory, formerly known as Ascometal, came to bury their hopes. Gathering in a general meeting, they filled the reception room, spilling onto the building stairs. The silence was heavy, concentrated. But behind all that, we can guess their questions and concerns when they listen to the details of the employment protection plan (PSE) that we convey to them.
Monday, November 17, the commercial chamber of the Strasbourg judicial court approved the takeover of only one of the company’s four locations by SME Métal blanc. The Leffrinckoucke factory, near Dunkirk, in the North, will be saved. However three other sites, Saint-Etienne, in the Loire, Custines, in Meurthe-et-Moselle, and Hagondange, were placed in mandatory liquidation. Only 144 jobs, of the 693 Novasco has in France, will be saved.
In Hagondange, the largest
