On Friday June 16th, an agreement was signed between the CFE-CGC, FO, UTG (Guayana Workers Union) and the management of Arianespace, ArianeGroup and CNES to support the departure of 190 employees from the Guiana Space Center . said its director Marie-Anne Clair.
The jobs concerned are distributed among the forty companies present at the space center in the Guyanese municipalities of Kourou and Sinnamary. The whole has just under 1,600 employees, Ms Clair said, along with Agence France-Presse (AFP). “These cuts will improve competitiveness,” she hopes.
At the Guiana Space Center, the atmosphere has been grim since the Soyuz launches halted after Russia invaded Ukraine, the failure of the first commercial flight of the Vega-C rocket and the cumulative delays in the new Ariane 6 launch vehicle in 2023, which is expected to be four Flights depart from CSG, “a far cry from the usual dozen,” says Ms. Clair.
This downsizing has been negotiated for a long time because Ariane 6 did not require as many staff and maintenance. “Two years ago we identified 300 jobs [à supprimer] ” continues the director of the center. Discussions have brought that number down to 190.
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“Avoid forced departures”
“It wasn’t easy,” CNES UTG delegate Jean-José Mathias replied in an interview with AFP minutes after the signing. “If we sign, it will only be to prevent forced withdrawals,” he added, specifying that all withdrawals will be voluntary and that “a working group will be set up to oversee the agreement.”
Employees who leave their positions receive allowances and various bonuses for six months, in addition to the provisions of industry agreements. Additional help is provided to those wishing to start a business or undertake a project related to Guyana’s development.
“Companies have told us that some of their employees are already interested in the agreement,” says Marie-Anne Clair. You have almost a year to decide, the agreement runs until March 2024.