PSA workers end 4-month strike over car plant closure

Workers at a PSA/Peugeot-Citroen factory near Paris have agreed to end a four-month strike in protest against the planned closure of the plant. The staff on strike will return to work this week, said Jean-Pierre Mercier, who represents the CGT union at the Aulnay plant. He said PSA had agreed to drop disciplinary action against strikers and make concessions on pay during the strike. PSA said the deal came after the CGT agreed to end any challenges to the automaker's layoff plan. PSA said about 130 of the 2,500 people employed at the site were involved in the strike action. "The CGT has agreed to drop the appeal lodged against the group's restructuring plan," PSA said in a statement on Friday. PSA is cutting 8,000 jobs nationwide under the plan, with the Aulnay plant, which builds the Citroen C3 subcompact, due to close next year as the carmaker seeks to reduce production overcapacity. "The closure of the factory still remains unacceptable and unjustified for all the workers," the CGT said in a statement, adding that it would have "disastrous consequences" for the area. Among major carmakers PSA has been the worst hit by Europe's depressed economies with the impact felt particularly deeply in its core southern markets. PSA had its biggest-ever full-year loss last year, totalling 5 billion euros ($6.46 billion), and is aiming to break even in late 2014 and post a profit the following year.