France to phone GE’s Culp over Belfort promises, job losses (NYSE:GE)

“We will make sure that GE respects its commitments regarding jobs in Belfort… I will have the opportunity to call GE Chairman and CEO Larry Culp (on the issue),” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told a hearing at the French Senate.

A European group committee of GE Energy – which bought out Alstom’s energy branch in 2015 – is reportedly due to soon launch the first phase of a vast social plan with the elimination of 1,225 jobs in Europe, including 764 jobs in France.

In a related press release, General Electric management said it believes “GE Grid Solutions and GE Hydro Solutions are each facing complex market dynamics and generating significant financial losses. In order to restore these divisions to a viable financial position, they each presented a transformation project to the European works council.”

“I am extremely unhappy with this decision, we still have the impression that little by little, GE is in the process of destroying everything that existed from Alstom in the past, and that GE, without saying so, is in the process of withdrawing from Belfort,” added Damien Meslot, the mayor of Belfort. “What worries me, beyond the plan, is that everything that had been foreseen in the agreements signed by GE, is not implemented, all the reindustrialization projects are for the moment at the stop.”