Sanofi workers protest against looming research job cutbacks

French unions furious over growing stock payout with hundreds of R&D jobs on the line

Staff at French pharmaceutical manufacturer Sanofi organised demonstrations last week after the company announced it was increasing its share dividends, despite ongoing pay freezes and looming job losses at the company.

According to local radio station France Bleu, around 200 Sanofi staff, dressed in laboratory coats, walked out of their workplaces on 4 February and took up position outside the gates of Sanofi’s facility in Vitry-sur-Seine on the outskirts of Paris. Later, the protesters travelled to the capital to join a wider demonstration against job cuts organised by union confederation CGT.