The Closing Down of the Renault Factory at Vilvoorde

In February 1997, Louis Schweitzer, Chairman of Renault since 1992, announced the closure of the Belgian Vilvoorde plant on TV. It was an huge shock for the workers, who were not previously aware of the plan. Jan Bucquoy, an anarchist filmmaker, went to Vilvoorde with his camera to meet the workers. He followed them during their struggle, filming their demos, their meetings, interviewing union leaders and politicians. Slowly, however, the documentary turns into a thriller: Jan Bucquoy decides to take the law into his own hands and kidnap Louis Schweitzer to avenge those who have been fired...

This film, if atypical, is an important document about this struggle, the union strategy and its limits, and the attempt by the workers to connect to other Renault workers across Europe. Sympathy actions and stoppages were organized in France, Spain and Portugal, leading this strike to be described as the first "Euro-strike".

We show the first 16 minutes of the film.