Carpet manufacturer Balta wants to scrap 529 jobs in West Flanders: « Falling demand and rising costs » (inland)

Carpet manufacturer Balta wants to stop the production of yarn and the weaving and finishing of carpets on his sites in Sint-Eloois-Vijve and Sint-Baafs-Vijve. As a result, 529 jobs are on the way. That was announced on Thursday during a special works council, Balta reports in a press release. According to Balta, it is due to a persistent pressure on the demand and the costs « are no longer financially feasible to continue the large -scale production of woven carpets in Belgium ».

According to a worker who would rather remain anonymous, he was not yet informed about the restructuring. « Moving production? I hear that for the first time. I suppose we are still being informed. What is going on at the head office are not my business, » he responds. « Whether we have to move production? I don’t have access to the finances of the company but they have to row with the belts we have. I am here to earn my living. If I have to look for other work, albeit so. There is work for those who want it, » he says.

Mayor Kristof Chanterie (CD&V) is equally surprised by the news. “We learned a while since Balta had a hard time to compete economically with the low -wage countries. We sympathize with the people and the families who will be affected. We also want to indicate that we are an economically strong region with luckily also many strong sectors and companies that still invest a lot and people in Waregem. As a city administration, we also use a lot of vacancies.

« Balta is confronted with a persistently falling demand combined with strong cost inflation, » says CEO Marc Dessein. « We emphasize that the intention for collective dismissal is a difficult but necessary decision. »

The proposed restructuring was expected to lead to the phased dismissal of 467 workers and 62 employees over a period of eighteen months. Certain activities would be transferred to the existing sites in Turkey.

The lamination and high -quality finish of tufted carpets would be preserved in Belgium, as well as most administrative services. Moreover, the location in Sint-Baafs-Vijve would continue to function as a central distribution center for Europe.(BLG, LVW)