Speaking to Swiss public broadcaster RTS on Thursday, Boncourt mayor Lionel Maître said the decision is “a shock, a disappointment, a feeling of desperation and a mess”.
The canton said it would work to ensure that staff received fair severance packages.
The Boncourt factory was founded by the Burrus family in 1814 and was taken over by Rothmans International in 1996 before merging with tobacco multinational BAT three years later. The site has produced ‘Parisienne’ cigarettes since 1887, which is the second best-selling brand in Switzerland.
In 2014, BAT’s closed down a research and development facility in Boncourt with the loss of around 15 jobs.
Switzerland is home to some of the leading tobacco product companies, including BAT, Japan Tobacco International and Philip Morris.
But the industry’s workforce has been in decline in the Alpine state as other companies have downsized staff in previous years.
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
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Swiss government wants better gender balance in federal administration
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Swiss national science foundation funded over 5,000 projects in 2023
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Switzerland invites 160 delegations to June Ukraine peace talks
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Survey: air travel most popular way to go on holidays for Swiss
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Swiss government to use phone data to identify asylum seekers
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Around 80 Japan Tobacco International (JTI) staff gathered outside their Geneva headquarters on Tuesday to share their concerns about job cuts.
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Entrenched in Switzerland, the tobacco industry enjoys significant political support, but even that may not be enough to save it.
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However, the number of Swiss smokers is gradually decreasing as anti-smoking measures gain momentum – Saturday is World No Tobacco Day – and the number of Swiss-made cigarettes sold on the domestic market continues to fall. Switzerland is something of a magnet for international tobacco companies, with three large firms – British American Tobacco Switzerland,…
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