Duralex placed in receivership: several hundred employees of the legendary glassworks on suspended sentence

La mythique verrerie Duralex placé en redressement judiciaire ce mercredi. EPA – TERESA SUAREZ

In difficulty, the legendary Duralex glassware, whose reputedly unbreakable tableware is sold throughout the world, was once again placed in receivership this Wednesday, April 24, 2024, three years after a previous procedure.

In difficulty, the legendary Duralex glassware, whose reputedly unbreakable tableware is sold throughout the world, was once again placed in receivership this Wednesday, April 24, 2024, three years after a previous procedure.

During a hearing that lasted a little over an hour, the court appointed two legal representatives, and rescheduled for a new hearing date to June 5. "The court hopes to find a buyer" for the French company in difficulty, a magistrate explained to the press at the end of the hearing.

At the hearing, during which the professional judges heard in turn two elected representatives of the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) per representative union, as well as the management of the French company , the employees "have asked for explanations, which we are still waiting", commented to AFP François Dufranne, employee of Duralex since 1992 and elected CGT.

While waiting for the next hearing, the two agents named "will take stock of the situation", continued the CGT unionist after the hearing. "We'll know more later. They are trying to do as much as possible for us", he added, specifying that the 230 employees would"being able to continue working".

Outside, around ten activists from the CGT and the PCF calmly welcomed the decision. "Duralex is in difficulty for quite a few years", had earlier conceded the new CEO of the company Géraldine Fiacre, in an interview with the regional daily The Central Republic.

"In 2021, we had a great glass project, but the energy crisis was the biggest obstacle which led to the furnace being put on standby" , specifies the manager, present at the hearing. In 2023, the company “suffered a sharp drop in consumption”, she continued.

Asked by the press after the hearing, the leader did not wish to speak. This is not a first for the company, which had already been placed in receivership three years ago and saved at the last minute.

"The problem is that you're starting to get used to it", laments the Force Ouvrière (FO) delegate Gualter Teixeira, 50 years old, half of whom spent in the Duralex factory located in La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin (Loiret). For this elected official, the situation is a problem of management of the company", of which "< em>fixed costs of 2.5 million euros monthly" are too important.

"The Eiffel Tower of dishes"

In the meantime, if "the ovens continue to operate, the suppliers' trucks are at a standstill and the temporary employment agencies have already recalled the 30–40 temporary workers present at Duralex", worries  François Dufranne.

"Here, before, there were 1,500 Duralex employees, 1 500 workers at Michelin a little further away", remembers Mr. Dufranne with bitterness, alongside former colleagues, now retired, who came to support them. The ace! the second has closed and there are only a few hundred employees left in the first company, which has nevertheless been the pride of French industrial production with its corlored glasses and plates, reputed to be unbreakable, which are a bit like "the Eiffel Tower of tableware", according to Duralex.

In a press release sent last week, the CGT of the department denounces a"political decision" aiming "to rationalize and optimize shareholders'investment".

"The beautiful promises will still have allowed shareholders to pocket millions of euros in financial aid from the State and local authorities, including the 15 million paid recently" by the authorities, still singles out the union.

Duralex, faced with soaring energy prices after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, was temporarily saved by a loan of 15 million euros from the State. Enough to allow the factory to reopen its glass furnace and restart its production after five months of closure.

At the same time, the company New Duralex International (NDI) says it was recently ordered to pay the pollution rights of the former owner of Duralex.

Incomprehensible according to the union elected officials: "We were given a commercial presentation of the development objectives until 2030, beautiful presentations, a big + speech+ and three weeks later, we learned of the request for judicial relief", François Dufranne annoys. No figures were detailed during the hearing, said several union and judicial sources.