Posted on 03/26/2009 7:06:41 PM PDT by hripka
PITHIVIERS, France: Workers at a factory operated by the U.S. company 3M released on Thursday the French manager they had held hostage for more than 24 hours after a deal was reached on terms for employees who will be laid off. The manager, Luc Rousselet, was barricaded in an office Tuesday evening and workers refused to let him out until he agreed to more favorable terms for 110 employees who will be let go. "A framework of an agreement allowing for the end of the current crisis on the 3M site in Pithiviers was signed today," a union representative said. Rousselet left his office early Thursday morning as workers booed. Unions at the 3M plant in Pithiviers, near Orléans, south of Paris, were demanding more money for departing staff, guarantees for those remaining and payment of salaries for those who went on strike over the layoff plan. "In the framework, the managers of 3M have committed to take into account all the social consequence of the restructuring project," the union representative said of the agreement. France is the sixth-largest market for 3M. The company, which makes products like adhesives, abrasives and electrical materials, employs 2,800 people at eight sites in France, according to its Web site. The company has said it needs to cut jobs at Pithiviers because of falling demand. On leaving his office, Rousselet said he was satisfied that negotiations had restarted. Social tensions are rising in France because of the economic crisis. More than two million people are unemployed and hundreds of thousands more are expected to lose their jobs this year as the recession deepens. Unemployment in France rose by 79,900 in February, a 19 percent increased compared with the same time last year, new figures showed Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
France soon to suffer shortage of Post-It notes (3-M Invention).
The French know HOW to use POST IT NOTES??
socialism at it’s best.
This strike was quickly resolved as 3M is essential to the French fashion industy.
Just normal labor negotiations.
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