Ds Smith Valgelon-La Rochette Workers Stage Walkout To Protest Planned Cartonnerie Closure

Around 90 employees at the DS Smith Packaging Savoie carton plant in Valgelon-La Rochette staged a stoppage to “maintain pressure” on management following the announcement that the site will close in 2026, putting all jobs at risk. The mill, which has produced carton packaging for more than 150 years and now belongs to International Paper, is facing shutdown after what the company describes as years of losses and a deteriorating economic environment, an argument fiercely contested by unions and staff who say the plant is efficient and profitable. Workers built a symbolic wall of 90 cardboard boxes bearing the names and seniority of each employee to highlight the human cost of the decision and warn of the knock‑on impact on local suppliers and the wider Val Gelon economy. Unions are demanding serious efforts to find a buyer, greater transparency and meaningful dialogue rather than a straightforward social plan.