Saint-Gobain Emballage - Production Capacity Reduced

Saint-Gobain Emballage is to reduce production capacity of one of its 6 industrial sites. The Vauxrot site at Cuffies, near Soissons, employs 316 people and makes bottles and cans for wines, spirits and beer. SG says the reduction in production is the result of declining beer and wine markets in France and a re-concentration of brewers in Holland and Belgium. Under the plan, 118 jobs will be lost in 2007-8, and an investment of 20M Euros will also be made to update the factory. Employees at the Vauxrot (Aisne, northern France) factory staged a 24-hour strike on 9 October as part of protests against the planned restructuring. Nearly 200 indirect jobs could also be affected.