French Workers Continue To Fight: Bossnapping Wins

The French director of the US company 3M was held captive by striking workers after he arrived at the 3M plant in Poithievers south of Paris for a visit on Tuesday. The strike began at the plant last Friday in response to layoffs and closures. The director was released unharmed late yesterday. Workers took turns guarding him while demanding better severance packages for laid-off workers and better conditions for those who will continue to work.

Unions at 3M are demanding more money for those losing jobs, guarantees for those remaining and payment of salaries for those who went on strike over the layoffs and closures. In addition to the workers’ actions, mediation in the struggle is also under way. At least 6 negotiating sessions have been held. About 2700 workers at 13 3M facilities are affected in all. The Poithievers plant employs about 250 people with about 110 people facing layoff.

This latest action builds on the recent French Sony bossnapping, the protests by Continental tire workers in France and the strike wave now under way there. More than two million French workers are unemployed and hundreds of thousands more are expected to lose their jobs this year. Unemployment jumped by almost 80,000 in February, a 19 percent increase. Between 1.2 and 3 million people hit the streets in France last week to denounce the government's handling of the crisis.

A delegate from the union Force Ouvriere was quoted as saying, "This action is our only bartering tool, but there is no aggression involved. It's out of the question that the director leaves the site unless we get something" during the bossnapping. Other workers and union leaders there have also been quoted as saying, "We shouldn't let this company close down, otherwise it means that all these robber bosses can do whatever they want to," “We don't have any other ammunition," "I am among the 110 people laid off and I know that I will not find another job in Pithiviers. I would never have imagined finishing my 3M career like that. It hurts. I feel humiliated, like all the workers here" and “I really have the impression that we no longer exist for these people."

Force Ouvriere has not been known as an especially militant or tough union over the years. Store owners in Pithiviers shut down early Wednesday to support the factory workers and police have refused to intervene.

Late news is that the workers are calling the action a victory and that they won key demands. A union statement says, “In the framework, the managers of 3M have committed to take into account all the social consequence of the restructuring project."