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Renault Denies It Threatened to Shut Two French Plants

Renault SA insists it "never" said it would close two factories in France if its unions didn't give in to the company's contract demands.
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Renault SA insists it "never" said it would close two factories in France if its unions didn't give in to the company's contract demands.

Officials from three French unions tell reporters that in labor talks on Tuesday Renault declared it would shutter the plants unless it obtained a favorable deal. The head of the CFE-CGC union opines that plants in Flins ad Doual are at greatest risk of being closed.

The company says negotiations are aimed at making its French factories more competitive. Renault has disclosed some of its demands: a one-year wage freeze followed by two small annual increases, a 7% extension of the workweek to 35 hours, and the elimination of 7,500 jobs by 2016 through attrition and early retirement.

In exchange for concessions, the company said earlier this month it could boost output in France by building vehicles for affiliate Nissan and Daimler. Renault now reveals that the extra work would hike its annual domestic production by 80,000 vehicles to a total of 620,000 units by 2016.

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