French Workers Rebel At Caterpillar Plant

Protesting Job Cuts, Union Laborers Occupy Factory, Detain Management

(AP)  Angry French workers facing layoffs at a Caterpillar factory briefly detained four of their bosses Tuesday at the U.S. manufacturer's plant in the Alps to protest job cuts, a regional official said.

It is the third time in the past few weeks that French workers have seized their bosses to protest job losses stemming from the global economic crisis.

Last week, workers at a 3M plant south of Paris held the company boss for two days, and earlier this month workers at a Sony plant held a similar protest.

In a new twist, the mayor of the small town of Pont-Saint-Esprit in southern France was prevented from leaving city hall by townspeople angry over municipal management amid the economic downturn. Phone calls to the mayor's office went unanswered, but the local police confirmed there was a "crisis."

Workers occupied parts of the Caterpillar plant in Grenoble on Tuesday morning and detained the managers. Police later moved in to clear out the seized areas and the managers were freed, said Chrystele Aubert, chief of communication for the regional government.

"The situation is now calm," she said in a telephone interview, adding that the Caterpillar management was negotiating with the workers.

Unions representing the workers said they had detained the managers because they wanted new talks on Caterpillar's layoff plans at the site in Grenoble. The plant that produces building equipment is supposed to cut 733 jobs in two of its factories in France.

"There is no violence or sequestration, but simply pressure so they restart negotiations," said Pierre Piccarreta, a representative from the CGT union.

"At a time when the company is making a profit and distributing dividends to shareholders, we want to find a favorable outcome for all the workers and know as quickly as possible where we are going," Piccarreta said.

Caterpillar France says the layoffs are justified. In February, the company said it was facing a 55 percent loss of orders between 2008 and 2009.

In response to the worsening economic prospects, Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar in January announced job cuts that will ultimately eliminate 20,000 positions worldwide.

[sjc_1]

It started with Reagan and the Air Traffic Controllers union. He did the John Wayne thing and fired everyone who complained that we needed to upgrade the system for safety. After that, it became open season on unions. The 40 hour work week, disability insurance, paid vacation, family leave and lots of other sensible measures were all promoted by unions and enjoyed by many that are not in unions.

Lots of people went along with Reagan and the union busting because it looked like he was so popular and everyone seemed to agree with them. Unions using the strike as their only weapon was outdated and hard for people to defend. It has been a slow silent slide downwards and maybe now people will see that they have been conned and taken for the last time.

[cheetah-man7]

I often find myself disliking the French, but at times, I can honestly say that I admire them too. In the case of job security, I do admire them for being willing and able to strike when they are unhappy. We Americans are total cowards when it comes to standing up for ourselves. We should be out protesting by the MILLIONS at the unfair practices of outsourcing jobs overseas. This is a disgrace that it is happening, but even more of a disgrace because we passively stand by and allow it to happen! We need a good dose of civil unrest in this country - we are likely to get things changed and likely to finally grow a set too!

[sjc_1]

The French are used to more job security. We used to believe in job security, until the corporations convinced people that we needed to stay "competitive". It is hard to compete with countries that pay people one dollar per hour, so it is hard to see why less job security would make us more competitive.

[incog-nito]

In other news, workers in America have also decided to take action, by going to online forums and blaming each other's party for giving corporate America hundreds of billions dollars in taxpayer-funded bailout money. U.S. workers also seized the moment by making fun of the French to feel better about themselves.

[incog-nito]

In other news, back in America workers gladly bend over when corporate America sends their jobs overseas, slashes their wages and ups their health care costs. Stay tuned for more of the same.

[thgdriver]

I am very surprised, the French have always been lovers, fighters, well that's quite a joke. If we did save their bacon twice they would all be speaking German.

[runningralph]

Whitemale wants to invest more money in Africa. Investments are made with the hope of being paid back with profit. Historically, investments in Africa have been very risky. Under Bush, US taxpayers tripled the aid to Africa. Aid is given without any expectation of return. How much would you like to give them? And how would increasing aid to Africa insure more jobs and better wages in Western countries?

[billpl-2009]

the French can get fine wine out of grapes

maybe they think you can get blood out of rocks