A protection plan at Arc France which will result in the loss of 704 jobs has been approved by the glass facility's union.
The fate of the Arques, Pas-de-Calais, #France headquartered glassmaker, which is currently in receivership, will be decided on March 20 by the Lille commercial court.
A meeting yesterday considered an offer from the sole bidder to take over the historic tableware glass manufacturer, Timothée Durand. Mr Durand is the grandson of an Arc executive and spent the majority of his career there until 2024. Mr Durand originally proposed to cut nearly 800 job cuts at the Arques site out of its 3,500 employees. But following negotiations, the redundancy plan signed by the unions and approved by the Works Council on Monday includes 704 job cuts.
This includes both voluntary departures and layoffs, according to union representatives. Arc has suffered in recent years from cheap foreign competition, particularly from China, and from the energy crisis. It has also received several refinancing plans supported by the French State and local authorities.
The 200-year-old group employs 5,700 people globally and, in addition to its headquarters in Arques, has three factories overseas - in the UAE, China and USA. Pictured Arc's headquarters in France has furnaces which help manufacture its Luminarc, Cristal d’Arques Paris, Arcoroc and Chef&Sommelier glass brands. Pic source George Lewis.
