French union calls for strike over space job cuts

PARIS (Reuters) - A French union called on Wednesday for a brief strike by aerospace workers to protest against more than 1,500 job cuts.

The call by the CGT union mostly concerns the space sector where Airbus and Thales are cutting jobs, but all aerospace workers in the region where jets are assembled have been invited to join Thursday's stoppage that is due to last several hours.

The CGT represents about 12% of Airbus workers in France. It is the first call for strike action over the latest cuts.

Airbus said last week it would cut 2,000 jobs or 5% of workers in Defence and Space, its second-largest division, including 540 in France, of which 424 will be in Toulouse.

"It's a big proportion of employment at a time when the workload and order books are full, so it will be a real problem to deliver what we have been asked. Work conditions have been deteriorating," said Sebastien Rostan, a CGT representative at Airbus Defence and Space.

Airbus did not respond to a request for comment.

Thales, which partners with Italy's Leonardo in satellites and services, also plans to cut 1,300 space-related positions including 1,000 in France.

Europe's top satellite makers have traditionally focused on complex spacecraft in geostationary orbit but have been hit by the arrival of cheap tiny satellites in low Earth orbit, led by the runaway growth of Elon Musk's Starlink constellation.

Airbus has promised no mandatory redundancies but Rostan said this only applied to salaried Airbus workers and not the 1,000 or so local Defence or Space staff on fixed-term contracts known in France as CDD, some of whom were being forced out.

"They say there is no need for layoffs, but then they lay off the temporary workers and sub-contractors," he added.

Germany, where Airbus Defence and Space is based, is bearing the most job cuts, with 689 posts affected. But France is hit harder in relative terms with 7.2% of divisional posts going, compared with 4.9% in Germany, according to the FO union.

Worst affected in terms of percentages is Britain, where the 477 job cuts represent 12.8% of the total assigned to Airbus Defence and Space, according to the union breakdown. Local media reports say there are particular concerns over the future of a satellite communications plant in Portsmouth, southern England.

"The job losses announced by Airbus demonstrate the fragility of the UK's defence and aerospace industry," said a spokesperson for Britain's Unite union.

Airbus is also in the midst of a cost-cutting and improvement plan at its core Commercial division called "LEAD!".

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Keith Weir)