O-I is to halt its Vergèze, France glass manufacturing furnace.

The world's largest container glassmaker made the decision after protests outside the site, which employs 164 people.

The company had said in April of its proposal to review the site, with negotiations with unions expected to continue until the end of this month.

According to the company, in recent weeks, site management has had to deal with "particularly violent actions, including threats, obstruction of the exit of management staff, illegal blockades of the site, and damage to security installations.

"These actions seriously compromise the safety of the Vergèze site, even though it houses a SEVESO-classified facility'.

"Given the risks inherent in our industrial activity, it is impossible to maintain degraded operations, which do not allow us to establish a satisfactory level of safety for the employees operating the site and the installations.

"In this context, production, and in particular the furnace's operation, cannot continue.

"Owens Illinois France's management was therefore unfortunately forced to take the decision on Thursday, October 9, to shut down the furnace at the Vergèze site.

"This is the only option to restore the safety of people and facilities, while preserving the furnace's integrity."

It added: "Over the coming weeks, the company will continue to do everything in its power to identify solutions to preserve industrial activities on the site, with the support of a specialist firm that we have commissioned for this purpose, as we have been doing since the beginning of this process.

"Several visits have already been organised since September with industrial groups wishing to establish themselves in France, although some have had to be postponed due to the actions on the site.

"These projects, potentially generating several million euros of investment and numerous job creations, represent at this stage the most promising prospect for ensuring the industrial sustainability of the Vergèze site."

"Although the furnace is going cold, the information and consultation process regarding O-I’s plan to close the plant continues."

Negotiations between management and the union had started in September, but after a breakdown in talks, protestors set fire to pallets and tyres in front of the facility.

At the time the CGT Union told local media that O-I's proposals fell short of expectations.

"The little they gave us doesn't even look like crumbs, but like dust. It's downright disrespectful to the employees," Bruno Santiago, CGT union representative at the Vergèze glassworks was quoted by Objectif Arles Gard.

Takeover

The mayor of Vergèze expressed her support for the protesters in an open letter.

Pascale Fortunat-Deschamps, Mayor of Vergèze, called for the owner of the adjacent Perrier water plant, Nestle, to consider taking over the site.

"Failing that, priority reintegration of employees into the activity of La Source Perrier, which remains the heart beating our territory," she said.

"It is our duty as elected officials, economic actors, associations and citizens to stand alongside employees. Their fight is just.

"They are defending much more than their jobs: they are defending know-how, a working-class history, an ecological logic and the vitality of an entire living area."

Footage from the protests taken by local media is available via YouTube