Areva looks set for a rough ride with the unions after announcing job cuts and an end to bonus pay and other perks in a bid to end abyssal losses, Euronews reported. While everyone agrees France’s state-owned nuclear utility has severe problems, no-one is sure of the solution. “We’re facing job losses and the loss of rights and collective agreements; bonuses and overtime are threatened. The bosses want us to be more productive, but we’re offered no guarantees,” said the CFDT’s (French Democratic Confederation of Labor) Jean-Pierre Bachmann. “…….The only thing we do know is the workforce has to be slimmed down,” was the opinion of the FO’s Jose Montes. Areva has been struggling with cost overruns and delays with new technology and new reactors it is building, and has a huge debt that grew bigger last year by over four billion euros.
