SeaFrance bankrupt, workers' co operative "unviable"

A Paris court has declared SeaFrance cross-channel ferry company bankrupt and ruled "unviable" the plan for a workers' co operative to buy out the company. 

AFP PHOTO/ Philippe Huguen

SeaFrance employed over 800 people in Calais.

The mooted co operative, called the Scop, faced several problems.

In a U turn last week, Sarkozy’s government advanced the idea that workers place a supplementary “exceptional payment” which would be part of their redundancy package, in the Scop.

The exceptional payment would have been financed by the SNCF, of which the state is a key shareholder.

But the idea was rejected at a meeting on Thursday, by the dominant union at SeaFrance, the CFDT Maritime Nord, whose representatives favoured direct funding from the government, and a loan.

That alternative would almost certainly have led to legal challenges by SeaFrance’s British competitors P&0, who would allege that such state-funding created unfair competition.

The National leadership of the CFDT union has publicly criticised its CFDT SeaFrance colleagues accusing them of intransigence.

CFDT national secretary François Chérèque on Monday declared that they had not “behaved honourably”.

The Scop also faced a credibility problem as CFDT representatives at SeaFrance have already faced accusations of fraudulent practices.

Meanwhile Eurotunnel, which operates trains running through the Channel Tunnel linking France and Britain, has expressed an interest in buying majority shares in a company which might buy the ferries.

Jacques Gounon, the chief executive of Eurotunnel, told French left-wing daily Libération that a workers co operative could then operate the ferry service.

Gounon said his main motive was to try to avert a situation which could cause serious social problems in Calais, where Eurotunnel is based.

Eurotunnel is one of SeaFrance’s main competitors, as it attracts customers who might otherwise travel by ferry between France and Britain.