French Workers Lock Up Execs in a New Eruption of 'Bossnappings'
French factory workers, angry over layoffs and cost cuts, locked up their bosses
at a Michelin tire plant and a U.S.-owned cigarette-paper mill in a new eruption
of kidnapping their bosses. The auto and auto parts industries have been
particularly hard hit by cutbacks and a backlash by French workers during the
country's worst recession in decades.
About 50 workers at Michelin's plant in Montceau-les-Mines locked up four
managers, including the director, on July 21. The managers were released early the
next day after regional officials offered to mediate. While French officials have
denounced such violent worker protests, police are rarely brought in, and the
hostage-takings usually end peacefully.
Industry Minister Christian Estrosi, who met with laid-off workers from an auto
parts plant, said that over 200 employees had already accepted a "transition
package" by which the state guarantees that workers get 95 percent of their wages
for the next 12 months. The workers at the plant want 30,000 euros ($43,000) each
from Renault SA and PSA Peugeot-Citroen, condemning French automakers for the
collapse of their factory.
Comments
It sounds to me like this
It sounds to me like this tactic is spreading. Is it being covered widely in the French press and on French television? Is there a Continental comrade that can help explain why this specific tactic is spreading, and what relationship it has to the workers' movement in France?
What relevance do we think this has for workers' struggles in the anglophonic countries?