The day when… In 2002, the candidates rediscovered social anxiety during their campaign for the legislative elections
Twenty years ago, employment returned to center stage with the legislative elections, after being pushed back into the presidential campaign by the main candidates for the Elysée. The announcements of job cuts did not decrease, quite the contrary. “On the ground, these announcements poison the lives of candidates, right and left. Above all, a certain number of them directly concern several personalities with a view to the new power.could we read in The world dated Wednesday, June 5, 2002.
This was the case, in Amiens (Somme), in the stronghold of the Minister of Transport and Equipment, Gilles de Robien, where the manufacturer of household appliances Whirpool confirmed, Monday June 3, the transfer of part of its activity in Slovakia, leading to the disappearance of 360 jobs out of 860. In Soissons (Aisne), the Secretary of State for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Renaud Dutreil, was faced with the closure of four companies (623 jobs threatened ). In Evreux (Eure), the president of the Rassemblement pour la République (RPR) group of the National Assembly, Jean-Louis Debré, had to face the sudden departure of a Finnish company, Aspocomp (printed circuits), which left on the tile 550 employees.
On May 24, 2002, André Gerin, deputy and mayor of the French Communist Party (PCF) of Vénissieux (Rhône), wrote to the new Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry, Francis Mer, to alert him to the case of REP (rubber presses), which “dismisses 31 employees”. ” It is unacceptable, he explained to our journalists Caroline Monnot and Isabelle Mandraud, the company received public money for the 35 hours. She arrives at the end of the aid period and she says to 31 guys: “ciao”. » He now demanded zero tolerance for unemployment. “People tell us: we are in deep shit and you politicians, you are not moving. I have young people in a situation of absolute poverty. If we do nothing, we risk preparing for a terrible tomorrow.affirmed Mr. Gerin.
“The multiple alarm signals raised in the constituencies lead, for the time being, the right to adopt a cautious profile on the treatment of job cuts”analyzed our journalists, continuing: “For the government, insecurity is therefore no longer the only stated concern, as evidenced by the trips undertaken by Jean-Pierre Raffarin on social issues. » “For elected officials on the ground, in any case, there is urgency. The “repressed” could, locally, once again, be reflected in the ballot boxes”ended Caroline Monnot and Isabelle Mandraud.