khad
28th July 2009, 06:39
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gymAQ2qPU0mGEP-g3e0Po2fZfg4Q
Music to my ears:
Michelin workers briefly detain managers at factory
(AFP) – 6 days ago
LYON, France — Workers at a plant owned by French tyre manufacturer Michelin briefly detained four managers on Tuesday night, preventing them from leaving a factory in another case of "boss-napping."
They were released early Wednesday.
Also Tuesday, workers held two managers of US cigarette paper manufacturer Schweitzer-Mauduit for more than three hours in Malaucene in southeastern France, demanding they continue to negotiate over the closing of their plant, officials and witnesses said.
Union representatives at a string of French companies have recently barricaded their managers in their offices during negotiations over job losses and restructuring, releasing them only when concessions have been agreed.
The wave of incidents, which in some cases has seen managers locked in overnight but always released unharmed, has added a more menacing twist to France's often-tense industrial relations.
On Monday, workers at a bankrupt French car parts factory dropped a threat to blow up the plant unless they got a lay-off settlement from their former clients Renault and Peugeot.
Workers at the Michelin plant in Montceau-les-Mines in the central region of Saone-et-Loire were protesting against the treatment of an employee on a short-term contract.
"Four members of the management, including the director of our Monceau factory, are being held by a group of about 50 workers," a spokeswoman for the group told AFP late Tuesday.
The employee at the centre of the dispute was laid off for two days after "refusing to work," the spokeswoman said. Union official Patrick Duvert said he was not trained to operate machines and had refused to put himself at risk.
The managers had access to their offices and were able to make telephone calls but were being prevented from leaving the factory, the spokeswoman said.
In Malaucene, a village of 2,750 residents, workers held the Schweitzer-Mauduit managers hostage at town hall, where negotiations had occurred over benefits they would receive in connection with the plant's closure.
They walked free after an agreement that negotiations would resume on Wednesday.
Music to my ears:
Michelin workers briefly detain managers at factory
(AFP) – 6 days ago
LYON, France — Workers at a plant owned by French tyre manufacturer Michelin briefly detained four managers on Tuesday night, preventing them from leaving a factory in another case of "boss-napping."
They were released early Wednesday.
Also Tuesday, workers held two managers of US cigarette paper manufacturer Schweitzer-Mauduit for more than three hours in Malaucene in southeastern France, demanding they continue to negotiate over the closing of their plant, officials and witnesses said.
Union representatives at a string of French companies have recently barricaded their managers in their offices during negotiations over job losses and restructuring, releasing them only when concessions have been agreed.
The wave of incidents, which in some cases has seen managers locked in overnight but always released unharmed, has added a more menacing twist to France's often-tense industrial relations.
On Monday, workers at a bankrupt French car parts factory dropped a threat to blow up the plant unless they got a lay-off settlement from their former clients Renault and Peugeot.
Workers at the Michelin plant in Montceau-les-Mines in the central region of Saone-et-Loire were protesting against the treatment of an employee on a short-term contract.
"Four members of the management, including the director of our Monceau factory, are being held by a group of about 50 workers," a spokeswoman for the group told AFP late Tuesday.
The employee at the centre of the dispute was laid off for two days after "refusing to work," the spokeswoman said. Union official Patrick Duvert said he was not trained to operate machines and had refused to put himself at risk.
The managers had access to their offices and were able to make telephone calls but were being prevented from leaving the factory, the spokeswoman said.
In Malaucene, a village of 2,750 residents, workers held the Schweitzer-Mauduit managers hostage at town hall, where negotiations had occurred over benefits they would receive in connection with the plant's closure.
They walked free after an agreement that negotiations would resume on Wednesday.