But then, knowing that, they should have anticipated the closing of the factory and adopted a responsible approach to restructuring (i.e. find a company willing to buy the plant / help workers to find new jobs or create their own business, retrain them and, first of all, negotiate with the trade unions...)

Seeing how despicably they behave, I doubt they tried hard...

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet