Télétravail chez PSA : une phase test sera lancée sur quatre établissements en septembre

Suite à la réunion du 7 juillet entre la direction de PSA et les organisations syndicales, il a été décidé de tester le dispositif de télétravail à 70% du temps pour le personnel tertiaire des sites de Sochaux-Belchamp, Carrières-sous-Poissy, Poissy et Vélizy.

Auteur : Xavier Champagne

Dans le cadre de son projet “New Era for Agility”, le groupe PSA souhaite généraliser le télétravail de 3,5 et 4 jours par semaine pour ses 40.000 salariés administratifs, commerciaux et R&D, dont 18.000 en France (sur un total de 200.000 dans le monde).
La troisième réunion, organisée le 7 juillet dernier, entre la direction et les organisations syndicales, a débouché sur la mise en place d’un calendrier de déploiement, dans le cadre d’une “démarche progressive, sans passage en force en passant par une phase de test”, indique la CFE-CGC qui militait pour cette approche.

Ainsi, après la phase 1 actuelle qui se terminera en août et qui repose sur un télétravail exceptionnel lié au Covid, une seconde phase est prévue, en septembre et octobre “d’implémentation mondiale, avec des spécificités et dans une logique d’ajustements”, a déclaré jeudi à l’AFP Xavier Chéreau, DRH du groupe PSA. Pour les salariés concernés, l’organisation du travail sera “répartie entre 70% de travail à distance et 30% en présentiel, en tenant compte des spécificités individuelles“, précise-t-il.

En France, cette période de test concernera le personnel tertiaire des sites de Sochaux-Belchamp, Carrières-sous-Poissy, Poissy et Vélizy.
“Les modalités de cette expérimentation restent à définir entre les organisations syndicales et la direction dans les jours venir”, indique la CFE-CGC. “Le sujet du coût pour le télétravailleur devra notammentt être abordé pendant cette phase test”, souligne le syndicat qui demande des primes d’installation et mensuelles qui correspondent aux dépenses réelles du télétravailleur. “PSA devra aussi proposer des moyens pour mettre en place un poste de travail à domicile identique à celui sur site”, dit-il.

Une prochaine réunion aura lieu le 16 juillet, pour encore aborder des sujets cruciaux comme “les horaires du télétravailleur, les règles de déconnexion entre vie professionnelle et personnelle, le suivi des risques psycho-sociaux, le développement de nouveaux liens sociaux sur site et en télétravail et les nouveaux modes de management hiérarchique et transversal”, souligne le syndicat.

Megasa ups bid for Gallardo Balboa acquisition

Spanish long steelmaker Megasa has made official a revised offer for the acquisition of Spanish steelmaker Gallardo Balboa, Kallanish notes. 

In a note to state-owned news agency EFE, Megasa says it is interested in all of Gallardo Balboa’s assets and plans to maintain the activity of all subsidiaries to give continuity to employees. It also plans to maintain the firm’s headquarters in the Extremadura region.

According to market analysts, Megasa is in this way matching the bid made last week for Gallardo Balboa by Spanish holding Grupo Industrial Cristian Lay (see Kallanish passim).

“We sent a new offer to US investment fund KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts), the current owner of Gallardo Balboa, that includes the acquisition of 100% of the steelmaker’s shares,” Megasa says. “With this improvement the company aims to resolve the concerns shown by the institutions.”

The longs producer guarantees to settle all Gallardo Balboa’s commitments to creditors, as well as working capital for the normal development of the business and investments in revamping production lines. “The important industrial and commercial synergies that would be created with the merger will allow Megasa and Gallardo Balboa to be more competitive and consolidate in the European steel sector,” Megasa adds.

Grupo Gallardo Balboa declined to comment on the negotiation process. Earlier this week trade unions voiced their support for the bid presented by Cristian Lay as it included all assets of Gallardo Balboa. Following Megasa’s bid revision, though, the Spanish steelmaker could be considered the front-runner in the bidding race for Gallardo Balboa, since it is a major international steel sector player.

Port of Antwerp iron and steel activity off 33% in H1, but June rebounds

Throughput of iron and steel at the key Northwest European port of Antwerp had its best month of the year in June but was still down 33.1% for the first six months of 2020, the port said July 8.

“Since mid-2019, global trade issues continue to adversely affect goods flows in the conventional breakbulk sector. This has culminated in an overall 29% decrease for the period January-June compared to 2019, with inbound and outbound flows being affected to the same extent,” the port said in a statement, without providing detailed figures.

Iron and steel is the most important freight group within the breakbulk sector.

Transshipment of coal was up in the first quarter, but came to a standstill in the second quarter, resulting in a 13.1% overall drop in dry bulk transshipment in January-June 2020 compared to the same period last year.

Total throughput at the port fell by 4.9% in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2019. After a strong first quarter, the port experienced a decline in the transshipment of all goods, with the exception of the container sector.

Despite the impact of the coronavirus crisis on global production and logistics chains and a pandemic-driven drop in demand, the port remained 100% operational.

“Port of Antwerp is a world port that follows the pace of the European and world economy. The impact of the shutdown of the global supply chain due to the coronavirus crisis has been felt from the second quarter onwards and will affect the total throughput of goods this year,” Port of Antwerp CEO Jacques Vandermeiren said.

— Annalisa Villa

Eurofer welcomes EU hydrogen strategy

Eurofer has welcomed the launch by the European Commission this week of its hydrogen strategy for a climate-neutral Europe. The Commission set out a plan to integrate a hydrogen energy network by 2050, something that could be beneficial for steelmakers looking to cut carbon emissions through the use of hydrogen.

The association notes that steel produced using hydrogen and clean-energy based methods will be 80-95% less CO2 intensive by 2050 than steel output is today. Costs of production will nevertheless be significantly higher.

“Clean energy at competitive prices is key to achieving the steel industry’s low-carbon goals,” Eurofer director general Axel Eggert tells Kallanish. “The transition to carbon-lean steelmaking will require 400 terawatt hours of CO2-free electricity per year. Of this, nearly 250 terawatt hours is needed for the production of 5.5 million tonnes of hydrogen, which would be used in new processes to make ‘green’ steel. With this, around 5% of the EU’s total CO2 emissions could be avoided.”

Looking ahead, Eurofer notes that, together with the setting up of a hydrogen and green strategy, the European Commission will need to make sure the market recognises the value of low-Co2 steel.

“We need policymakers to ensure there is a market for ‘green steel’ and other such low-carbon industrial products,” says Eggert. “Only in making the low-carbon transition a success across the economy can we harness the EU’s leadership. The benefits to European society of this endeavour will be vast – if the whole transition can be tied together and invested in sustainably.”

Flat steel fair Euroblech postponed to 2021 as exhibitors pull out

The sheet industry fair Euroblech will be postponed to March 9-12, 2021, after major exhibitors pulled out of the event initially planned for October 2020, the event’s organizer Mac Brooks Exhibitions said July 7.

The biennial fair, located in Germany’s Hanover, is one of the most important fairs for the flat steel industry in Europe with around 56,000 visitors.

“The past months have been challenging, in particular for the sheet metal working industry and its related industry sectors. We have seen a decrease in orders of capital goods and many companies are telling us about their challenges in dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although we have recently received authority approval for our Safety and Security concept to hold Euroblech in October this year, we have decided to postpone Euroblech to spring 2021,” according to Nicola Hamann, managing director of Mack Brooks Exhibitions.

There will be a virtual summit nevertheless October 27-30, providing a digital platform for exhibitors.

The Wire & Tube fair in Duesseldorf, a similarly important fair, will be going ahead however following the postponement from spring to December 7-11 this year.

Opinions are mixed in the steel market whether to attend a fair at all this year in light of the possibility of a second wave of the pandemic and travel restrictions that could be tightened on short notice.

Sources at major mills, which usually exhibit at the Tube & Wire and Euroblech, said before the official postponement of the Euroblech that many exhibitors chose one of the fairs as both were scheduled close to each other.

A European mill source said the date of the Tube & Wire in December would be a disadvantage for sales discussions as most would be usually winding down activities at that time. December is also usually the time when the German distribution sector is decreasing inventories and do not look for many buying opportunities compared with November.

— Laura Varriale