Flooring company Tarkett is to cut 126 posts in Luxembourg, more than 20% of its workforce in the country, unions said on Wednesday, as production roles are being relocated abroad.
Tarkett plans to release 126 staff out of its total workforce of 568 in Luxembourg, the OGBL trade union said.
The union said it was informed by the company of its plans in a letter from a lawyer, which OGBL representative Alain Rolling described as “absolutely incomprehensible.”
"126 jobs are to be lost in Luxembourg as a result," Rolling told the Luxemburger Wort.
The union said it was particularly shocked at the decision given that the flooring manufacturer had only recently decided to extend a job retention plan - also known as a Plan de maintien dans l’emploi (PME).
That plan, to safeguard around 500 posts, was agreed last summer between the management and the OGBL and LCGB unions.
"The aim of the signed plan to maintain employment was to secure jobs, maintain the skills of as many employees as possible and avoid redundancies for economic reasons at Tarkett GDL," Rolling said on Wednesday.
The agreement covers the period from 1 September 2023 to 30 April 2024, and is intended to avoid redundancies and secure the future of the company’s Clervaux site. "This plan has only just been extended. But I doubt that the ministry will play along if 126 employees are to be made redundant," said Rolling.
Tarkett GDL manages two units in Luxembourg: a research and development centre in Wiltz and a production site in Lentzweiler/Clervaux. The 126 posts affect employees at the site in Lentzweiler/Clervaux.
The OGBL representative said there has always been a good dialogue with the firm’s management in Luxembourg.
"We had already sent an email with questions on Friday, as there were rumours in the company. But we didn't get any clear answers," said Rolling, who said he believed the decision to relocate the induction line was probably made at the company's headquarters in Paris and that "everyone in Luxembourg was left out of the loop.”
So far, the OGBL does not know there the line will be moved to.
A meeting between the union and Tarkett’s management is scheduled to take place on Monday. However, the union has requested an emergency meeting with the Ministry of Labour, saying it does not want to meet the company until it has spoken to the ministry.
(This article was first published on the Luxemburger Wort. Translation and editing by Tracy Heindrichs)