Wednesday April 1, 09:04 AM
Caterpillar dispute: Sarkozy to meet with workers
By Mie Kohiyama
GRENOBLE, France (AFP) - Angry French workers holding their managers hostage at a bulldozer plant run by US firm Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - news) won a promise Wednesday from President Nicolas Sarkozy that he would meet their leaders.
Employees at Caterpillar's factory in the southeastern city of Grenoble barricaded bosses inside an office on Tuesday after talks on a compensation deal for 733 workers facing redundancy broke down in what is France's latest case of "boss-napping".
Caterpillar factory director Nicolas Polutnik was being held along with the head of personnel and two other managers while some 50 employees mounted guard outside the building.
Human resources director Maurice Petit, who suffers from heart problems, was allowed to leave in the early evening.
Early Wednesday the managers were given the traditional French breakfast of coffee and croissants by their captors.
It was the third time in March that executives had been held by French workers outraged at job losses sparked by the global economic crisis.
A manager of a factory run by US pharmaceutical giant 3M was held for more than 24 hours last week and the boss of Sony France was detained overnight on March 12 by workers seeking better redundancy packages.
In those instances, police did not intervene to free the managers who were released unharmed and no charges have been laid against the workers.
"We are holding them in the director's office," union official Benoit Nicolas told AFP Tuesday. "They are a little stunned."
During mid-afternoon, union officials escorted journalists into the offices where the managers were being held while police officers took up positions at the entrance of the plant.
Polutnik defended the layoff plan as the only way to save the company and said he was unable to re-open negotiations while being held captive.
"We do not have the freedom of movement that would allow us to give negotiations a chance," he said as employees listening nearby booed.
Union representatives told AFP Wednesday that negotiations were scheduled for 9:00 am (0700 GMT) if the captured bosses agreed.
Workers were demanding a minimum of 30,000 euros (39,000 dollars) in severance pay, much more than the 10,000 euros that Caterpillar was offering as minimum compensation.
Union representative Alexis Mazza said the five, then including Petit, were told they will "stay here and sleep here" after a first round of talks hit an impasse.
"They don't want to renegotiate, they say they are up against the wall, that they have no money and that the company is in jeopardy," said Mazza.
Caterpillar workers were on strike for a second day on Tuesday at two plants that produce construction equipment engines in the Grenoble region.
Management announced plans to cut 733 jobs out of 2,800 at the two plants on February 17.
In Paris, one of France's richest men, Francois-Henri Pinault, was besieged by angry employees as he left a meeting in a taxi Tuesday, prompting police to intervene to help the retail tycoon after a one-hour standoff, union officials said.
In the central French town of Chatellerault, thousands of protesters tried to march to an exhibition centre where President Nicolas Sarkozy was to chair a round table on his government's response to the economic crisis.
Police fired tear gas after the protesters, prevented from reaching the venue, pelted them with eggs.
France has also seen strikes and protests over big bonuses paid to managers, as the crisis has sent the number of French jobless shooting up monthly to reach 2.4 million.
The government this week issued a decree banning stock options and curbing executive bonuses at companies that take state aid, after a public outcry over payoffs to bosses.
The government has not spoken out strongly against "boss-napping", but families minister Nadine Morano has said such radical tactics were not the answer to job losses.
"I think that it's not at all the proper solution," Morano said, but added: "I can understand that there are moments of despair."
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