Dumarey Powerglide reaches agreement with its main customer, German ZF, for restructuring

The automatic gearbox manufacturer Dumarey Powerglide, in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), was due to request a safeguard procedure on 16 September at the commercial chamber of the Strasbourg court. But in the end, a memorandum of understanding was reached and signed with its main customer, the German equipment manufacturer ZF.

The solution? A guarantee fund of 60 million euros, announced to employees on Monday at an extraordinary meeting of the CSE. It should be used to finance social measures. The distribution of the sum between ZF and Dumarey is not known.A restructuring had already been mentioned upstream, and there, the conciliator mentioned the word PSE. But we do not know how many people are affected, whether it will be forced layoffs or not.“, underlines André Dulery, CGT delegate, member of the CSE.

Residual production

Since August 30, the company has stopped production of the 8HP eight-speed gearbox that equips BMWs. A decision linked to that of its customer, the equipment manufacturer ZF, to withdraw its orders from the company. The product represented 80 to 90% of Dumarey Powerglide’s turnover.

Since then, the employees, who had led a two-day strike in July, have been worried about their future.We still have a small production of components for ZF and Stellantis, but not enough to remain competitive for a company of 600 people.“, continues André Dulery, who anticipates social disruption and highlights the average age of employees, 52 years old. The inter-union is calling on employees to demonstrate in the city center of Strasbourg on September 28.