Clestra: Workers Resistance Episode 1 Clestra Factory employees go on strike in early July after one of their colleagues is fired. By collectively defending their jobs, these workers of different origins are also fighting to preserve their “second family”.
One should have been in Portugal and the other in Algeria. But on this Tuesday, August 8, Klystra workers picketed a picket in front of the office division company in Illkirch-Grafenstaden. “The factory is currently closed. We should have been on vacation, ”confirms Philip, an employee of the company for 33 years. Instead, the employee at the assembly center and his wife, Marie-José, decided to support the social movement. The couple were among 20 employees who gathered to celebrate the sixth week of the strike and share a barbecue.
Collective thinking in the face of “injustice”
After a few handshakes and an exchange of smiles, the strikers remember the beginning of the movement. On Sunday, July 2, 2023, Jibril (first name changed) received an email refusing him access to the site. Overnight, he was fired for “gross misconduct”. Very long breaks could have been offered by management and phone consulted during business hours.
After receiving no warning, Gabriel’s colleagues and the CGT union denounced the unfair dismissal. “It was done in a brutal way, without consideration and without respect,” said Judge Amar Ladra, representative of the CGT Métallurgie Grand Est. This incident affected the workers, who decided to go on strike. “It’s natural to unite with the other parts of the same team,” says Bertrand (first name changed), who wears a blue Clestra T-shirt. “We have different origins but we are all in the same world,” he adds.
“We take the blows together”
“The support of colleagues has really enriched me. Here is the family. I don’t want to work elsewhere,” said Jibril, who remains deeply attached to the Klystra group of workers. Hired in 2019, he wasn’t expecting to be fired after four years. “It came like that, Bam! Today, my bank account is negative. I don’t know how I’m going to pay my rent. Gabriel, a father of two, would like to have a job and a peaceful everyday life.
Since the acquisition of the company by the Jestia Group in October 2022, workers have been waiting for guarantees to keep their jobs. With the planned movement of production, the strikers fear some job losses, especially since the future buildings located in Port-du-Rhin are smaller than the factory in Illkirch-Graffenstaden. Workers deplore the lack of communication from their hierarchy. Philip explains: “The management would undoubtedly have liked us to be apart, but we have known each other for years, so we take the blows together.”
Same galleys everyday
Employees of Turkish, Algerian or even Portuguese descent have worked for several generations within the company. “They all have the same experience, the same daily struggles,” sums up trade unionist Amar Ladraa. They know the difficulty of the end of the month, the pressure. They already live in difficult situations where the unemployment rate explodes. This is what makes them united and determined in this strike. According to the representative of the CGT union, 90 live % of the strikers are in the same popular areas of Strasbourg, such as Meinau, Neuhof, Hautepierre and Koenigshoffen or in Lingolsheim and Illkirch-Graffenstaden.
“Originally, the box was very social.”
The metal company Clestra Hausermann, which has been around for 110 years, is also a place of socialization and pride for these strikers. “Originally, the fund was very social. The work council organized birthday parties or award ceremonies. There was a real relationship between the boss and the staff: we were informed about working conditions, there was an infirmary. We went from a normal working situation to a real nightmare,” he begins. Philip.
This close relationship went beyond the framework of the company. “When the plant was installed in Koenigshoffen, the atmosphere was different! We met among the mothers and got to know each other a little bit. We went on excursions to Europa-Park or went to hunting competitions with the children of my husband’s classmates, ”remembers Marie-Josée.
When the company moved to Illkirch-Graffenstaden in 2011, some workers had to relocate and outings became rare. However, some employees have continued to organize moments of coexistence, such as solidarity barbecues, which they organize automatically via a shared WhatsApp group chat.
Camping chairs, chopsticks, soft drinks … Everyone contributes to the installation of the barbecue by continuing the conversation under the barn. Behind the Clestra staff, a few trucks are already carrying production machinery. Workers prepare to sit down to eat. Ammar Ladraa concludes by talking about the development of this important company for the residents of popular neighborhoods in Strasbourg and the surrounding area:
“It is one of the last industrial companies still present on the territory of the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg. This is also why we have been calling the Town Hall for many years: we would like them to take into account the specificity of the Clestra. It is an important task for this population group that lives in the popular neighborhoods of Strasbourg »
