France

Angry workers interrupt mass meetings on proposed jobs deal

Article published on the 2009-04-20 Latest update 2009-04-20 15:05 TU

Logo from the Caterpillar workers' website

About 200 rank-and-file workers interrupted mass meeting at two French factories owned by US construction equipment-maker Caterpillar Monday, angry at a deal reached after nine hours of negotiations in Paris. The protests augur ill for the acceptance of the deal in a vote by employees between now and Wednesday.

Some workers went back to work on the morning shift at the factories in Grenoble and Echirolles, in the French Alps, but anger exploded as union representatives explained the bosses' offer to mass meetings of workers.

The protesters, shouting "To arms! We're the workers and we're angry!" and "Cater[pillar] must pay!", went on to regional labour department offices to try and stop negotiations on a redundancy scheme.

Two months of dispute have seen executives bossnapped and workplaces occupied, as well as short-time working imposed by the company.

After nine hours of discussion at the Economy Ministry in Paris, Caterpillar bosses promised to reduce the number of redundancies from 733 to 600 and increase layoff pay. They say they will withdraw the offer if no overall agreement is reached.

Workers' representatives also demanded the dropping of disciplinary action against workers who occupied the Echirolles plant from Wednesday to Saturday, when bosses agreed to the Sunday meeting. On Friday a court ordered 19 workers to lift a blockade of the Grenoble factory.

Caterpillar says that 1,000 workers should be able to start work again this week and another 1,000 the following week.

All workers at the two sites are supposed to vote on whether to accept the deal by Wednesday.

President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to try and save jobs at the factories after workers freed four executives whom they had locked in their offices. He later called for an end to bossnappings in a speech in the south of the country.