Last-ditch bid to save SeaFrance

Management and unions at SeaFrance were to set to begin a final round of negotiations on Friday, aimed at reaching a long sought-after agreement on a recovery plan.

The SNCF-owned Channel ferry operator is on course to lose €36m (US$54m) this year.

The negotiations, chaired by government-appointed mediator Daniel Cholley, had been due to end on 30 November, but broke-up without an agreement.

Cholley said some progress had been made in meetings between management and unions, but it had not been enough to finalise a deal.

For example, the number of redundancies contained in the rescue plan - initially 650, before being reduced to just below 550 in June - was now estimated at 482.

Severance and bonus packages for workers who accept voluntary redundancy have been improved by €5,000 to €30,000, while more money has been made available to staff who agree to quit SeaFrance to set up their own businesses.

And the number of job opportunities elsewhere in the SNCF group being offered to redundant SeaFrance workers has also been increased to more than 400.

With the 30 November deadline passed, Cholley drew up "ultimate proposals" and gave both parties 72 hours to consider them ahead of Friday’s talks.

Cholley told IFW: "Over the past six weeks I’ve got to know SeaFrance inside out, and I can tell you that if agreement is not reached on 4 December, the next port of call for the company will be the bankruptcy court.

"The recovery plan on the table is designed to ensure the economic stability of SeaFrance over a number of years, while at the same time safeguarding as many jobs as possible.

"The management is ready to sign up for it - the central question now is whether [majority union] CFDT will okay it too."

A senior CFDT official told IFW there were still a number of issues to resolve, in particular, relating to job losses. He said: "For us, there are around 200 jobs which have no reason to be cut."

However, in his latest contact with the union, Cholley said he had been told by a senior official that CFDT estimates on job cuts were close to his.

He added: "In my dealings with the CFDT, I have yet to see any logic in their position, so it’s difficult to be optimistic on hearing this.

"All I can say is that sabotaging this agreement makes no sense. SeaFrance has lost roughly €100,000 a day in 2009 and this can’t go on."