France: Workers facing mass layoffs threaten to blow up plants

[Hannah Bell]

At the New Fabris auto supply plant in Châtellerault...workers have wired gas canisters to an electrical cable. They are demanding €30,000 in severance payments from auto manufacturers Renault and PSA Peugeot-Citroën, New Fabris’ two main clients. They are threatening to detonate the gas if they do not receive payment by July 31.

Plant manager Pierre Réau said that PSA and Renault had provoked the New Fabris shutdown by “cutting their orders brutally and without warning.” After having made orders that represented 90 percent of New Fabris’ business, they cut back their orders suddenly this spring by 80 and 30 percent, respectively.

The commercial court in Lyon placed New Fabris in liquidation on June 16. All 366 workers at the plant are to lose their jobs... Renault and Peugeot together took €6 billion in state bailout funds in January in exchange for promises to preserve jobs and industrial activity. Châtellerault is expected to lose 2,400 jobs in the coming year.

Workers at communications firm Nortel’s Châteaufort plant, near Paris, threatened to blow up the plant with gas canisters on July 14...

At vehicle parts manufacturer JLG in Faullet, near Bordeaux, 163 workers are on a solidarity strike for 53 recently laid-off co-workers. They are threatening to detonate plant inventory with gas canisters if the laid-off workers do not receive severance packages...

These developments testify to the explosive political situation that is developing, as corporations use the economic crisis and the bailouts to line their pockets at the expense of the working class...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jul2009/fran-j20.shtml

[TaffyMoon]

1. I love the French; they just do not jerk around,

they go straight for the jugular.

[ColbertWatcher]

28. Yup. There's nothing like a French strike! n/t

[glitch]

31. Gotta agree. LOVE the French.

Wish they reciprocated but whatev.

[wroberts189]

36. They are still peeved about the "let them eat cake" comment. nt

[excess_3]

2. why are these people allowed access to gas canisters?

seems unsafe

[ThomWV]

5. ??? - you got a gas-can laying around your garage anywhere?

That would constitute a "gas canister" as would a glass jar with some gasoline in it, or you could simply go to Wal Mart and buy all of the little (about a liter) gas canisters they use to run Coleman stoves and lamps, or you could stop by any hardware store this country, and I presume Europe, and buy a canister of Propane to operate a gas Bar-B-Que grill that holds roughly 15 liters of gas. In short not only are "gas canisters" perfectly legal, they are all over the place.

[billyoc]

13. It's perfectly safe unless you try to rob them of their pay.

Then you're going to be in a seriously fucking unsafe situation.

[HamdenRice]

3. May be true, may be untrue. WSWS is not a credible news source.

Most of what is cross posted here turns out to be untrue.

[Hannah Bell]

4. too bad you can't back up your bullshit, hampton.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=france+threaten+blow+up+unions

Results 1 - 10 of about 350,000 for france threaten blow up unions. (0.13 seconds)

French workers threaten to blow up factory - TelegraphJul 13, 2009 ... French car part workers have threatened to blow up their factory ... Union members say the factory contains car parts worth around two ...
www.telegraph.co.uk/.../france/.../French-workers-threaten-to-blow-up-factory.html - Similar

French workers threaten 'to blow up' car factory - TelegraphJul 12, 2009 ... Laid-off French workers threaten to blow up factory for redundancy pay ... estimated at a further two million, the union leader said. ...
www.telegraph.co.uk/.../france/.../French-workers-threaten-to-blow-up-car-factory.html - Similar

France 24 | French workers threaten to blow up factory | France 24Jul 12, 2009 ... In true unions style, these people are going to blow up the ... I am amazed what is tolerated in France.Threaten to go ahead and blow up a ...
www.france24.com/.../20090712-new-fabris-factory-chatelrault-bankruptcy-worker-threat-explosion-france - Cached - Similar

French Auto Workers Threaten To Blow Up FactoryJul 15, 2009 ... A local official dismissed a threat by laid-off French workers to blow up their auto parts factory, saying the gas canisters, center left, ...
www.huffingtonpost.com/.../french-auto-workers-threa_0_n_233890.html - Cached - Similar

French car parts workers threaten to blow up factory < French news ...Everything has been planned for it to blow up," unless there is an accord by 31 July, Guy Eyermann, CGT union official and secretary of the company works ...
www.expatica.com/.../French-car-parts-workers-threaten-to-blow-up-factory_54452.html - Cached - Similar

SOCIALIST UNITY » FRENCH WORKERS THREATEN TO BLOW UP FACTORYFRENCH WORKERS THREATEN TO BLOW UP FACTORY. Filed under: France — admin @ 9:50 am. French workers were on Monday barricaded inside their ...
www.socialistunity.com/?p=4368 - Cached - Similar

French Staff At Collapsed Plant Will Blow Up Factory If Peugeot ...Jul 13, 2009 ... French Workers Threaten To Blow Up Factory ... connected with each other," CGT trades union official Guy Eyermann said. Sony plant in France ...
news.sky.com/...Staff...Blow-Up.../200907215336724?f... - Similar

FRANCE: Workers threaten to blow up parts factory: Automotive News ...FRANCE: Workers threaten to blow up parts factory ... CGT union official Guy Eyermann France Info radio: "Gas bottles have already been placed in various ...
www.just-auto.com/article.aspx?id=100229 - Similar

New Tactic For Unions On Strike: Threaten To Blow Up Factory - The ...New Tactic For Unions On Strike: Threaten To Blow Up Factory ... Guy Eyermann, an official with GCT, told France Info radio on Sunday that ...
blogs.thecarconnection.com/.../1022221_new-tactic-for-unions-on-strike-threaten-to-blow-up-factory - Cached - Similar

France 24 | Threats of violence, a new bargaining tool for French ...At the Nortel plant in Châteaufort, striking was a learning experience for the ... TELECOMMUNICATIONS: French workers threaten to blow up Nortel factory ...
www.france24.com/.../20090715-nortel-execs-join-picket-lines-threaten-blow-plant-telecommunication-

French workers threaten to blow up Nortel plant - The Globe and MailJul 15, 2009 ... Crosses are set up in front of the Nortel plant, in Chateaufort, outside Paris, on July 15, 2009 after workers threatened to blow up the ...
www.theglobeandmail.com/...to-blow-up-nortel.../article1218736/ - Similar

Angry French Nortel workers threaten to blow up the factoryJul 15, 2009 ... As for Nortel, I think they'd make a lot more money if the workers did blow up the building. They'd get more from insurance than from ...
www.ottawacitizen.com/Angry...Nortel...blow.../story.html - Cached - Similar

CEOWORLD Magazine | Tag Archive | ChateaufortFrench Nortel workers secure talks after threaten to blow up factories. Workers at the French arm of telecommunications manufacturer Nortel have forced ...
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evertiq.com :: General - Nortel France: threat to blow up facilityJul 15, 2009 ... Related stories. French workers threaten to blow up facility ... GeneralEmployees of Nortel's French facility in Chateaufort have placed ...
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Full Coverage: New Threat By French Staff To Bomb FactoryJul 17, 2009 ... French workers threaten to blow up Nortel plant ... walk next to crosses set up in front of the Nortel plant, in Chateaufort, outside Paris, ...
www.newstin.com/rel/us/en-010-016263949 - Cached - Similar

Think Green Alliance » Blog Archive » Nortel monitors offices ...Jul 17, 2009 ... On Wednesday morning, workers of the French arm of Nortel threatened to blow up the company's Chateaufort plant, according to the Reuters ...
www.thinkgreenalliance.com/.../nortel-monitors-offices-following-bomb-threat-in-france-rd-centre - Similar

Threats Ratchet Up Tension in French Labor Disputes - NYTimes.comWorkers threatened to blow up the factory as part of a demand for €30000 in ... Workers at a Nortel Networks research center being shut in Châteaufort, ...
www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/business/global/17explode.html - Similar

Nortel French Workers Stage Threat to Force Pay Talks (Update2 ...Jul 15, 2009 ... It's the second time this week French workers threatened to blow up a factory over severance pay, and follows a wave of “boss-nappings” earlier this year in ... The Chateaufort site was closed for “security reasons.” ...
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid... - Similar


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Nortel%E2%80%99s+Ch%C3%A2teaufort+blow+up

[HamdenRice]

6. Thanks for credible links. From now on, maybe you could start with credible sources?

Because as I've said several of the stories you've posted from WSWS in the past have been debunked.

If you read my post, I did not say I these events didn't happen. I said there is no way to know they happened just because WSWS said they did. That's because WSWS is not a credible source.

Anyway, thanks again for providing links to credible sources. You would do yourself a favor by starting with credible sources in the first place and avoid posting stories from a source that often just makes stuff up.

:hi:

[Hannah Bell]

7. "have been debunked" - link to this "debunking," please?

links to the articles where they "just made stuff up"?

wsws articles are based on reports mainly from mainstream sources.

you may disagree with their opinions or pov, but they usually get the facts right.

none of your previous bs has "debunked" anything i've posted, or shown evidence of something being "made up".

did you go to spin school?

[HamdenRice]

8. I won't violate DU rules be rearguing issues from another thread

but just go back to several of your posts over the last week based on WSWS "articles."

WSWS is not a credible source. It's not just that their opinions are outlandish; they make up "facts" or slant "factual" claims so severely that they are unrecognizable compared to reality.

[Hannah Bell]

9. how convenient for you. not to have to back up your claim by "going back".

if you make the claim, produce the evidence, or stfu.

you already violated the rule by bringing up former threads which you claim debunked wsws articles.

edit: still waiting...guess the claim is bs.

[HamdenRice]

10. The topic at hand is the credibility of WSWS

Every rational person knows it's not a credible source. Since you ask for an example, I'd say WSWS's claim that the leadership of organized labor unions are "criminal" is both ideologically bizarre and factually wrong.

But then again, you claim to believe that both the Democratic Party and organized labor unions are enemies of the working class. Don't be surprised if that view isn't popular here on a forum for Democrats and that generally supports organized labor.

[Hannah Bell]

11. back up your claim, & stop the squidlike tactic of shooting obfuscating black ink.

and now, since i know you can't back up your claim, i'm going to bed.

[HamdenRice]

12. I just did. You know which "article" I'm talking about, the one about the UAW

and GM car czar.

[Hannah Bell]

19. why don't you post the debunking you delivered, then? since you were the "debunker."

[Hannah Bell]

20. kick

[anigbrowl]

23. I'll post it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6071594#6072184

Unsurprisingly, I agree that wsws.org's general credibility as a news organization is dubious.

[Hannah Bell]

25. post the factoids which were "debunked".

[Hannah Bell]

27. No 1.

WSWS:

"Rattner’s former investment firm, Quadrangle Group LLC, is the subject of an ongoing “pay-to-play” investigation by New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Sources familiar with the probe and New York politics have speculated that Rattner stepped down because Cuomo’s investigation is intensifying."

Hampton:

"The replacement of Rattner by Bloom has nothing whatsoever to do with any scandal"


The article didn't claim the replacement *was* due to scandal. It claimed in-the-know sources speculated he stepped down because of the investigation.

I linked the WSJ as one (of a number) of mainstream sources claiming or implying same:

"His return to New York appears to have cut short, at least in the medium term, Mr. Rattner's goal of parlaying the task-force position into a second, political career. The statement announcing his appointment as a Treasury adviser in February made clear he would have responsibilities beyond the automobile sector.

His departure sparked speculation about what might have derailed the plans, especially since it leaves his future endeavors unclear.

The move comes as the New York attorney general's office has intensified scrutiny of Quadrangle Group and Mr. Rattner, 56 years old, as part of a long-running probe, according to a person familiar with the matter."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124751573500734529.html


So I see no "debunking" in M. Hampton's initial (fraudulent) claim v. the article.

Rather, I see Hamp couldn't even debunk his own straw man.

[anigbrowl]

39. I'm sure other readers can work those out without any assistance from me.

[Kid Dynamite]

44. The topic at hand is labor unrest in France

[Kid Dynamite]

22. If you do not actually have any proof of your claim

and plan to furnish none, aren't you doing nothing BUT rearguing issues from another thread?

[glitch]

32. Hearty welcome to DU! nt

[Kid Dynamite]

42. thanks!

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[HamdenRice]

15. Actually, I'm not Christ.

[blindpig]

17. No, you're an apologist for the status quo.

Your definition of 'reason' is that which is allowable, according to the capitalists.

[QC]

41. Thank God it passed! n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

43. ROFL

:thumbsup:

[conspirator]

16. Detonate! Detonate! nt

[ProdigalJunkMail]

18. Yep...cause violence is the answer to a bad economy

and blowing up that plant will certainly better their situation...

sP

[Fla_Democrat]

21. Two words

Nucking futs. :crazy:

[anigbrowl]

24. Meantime workers have suspended their threats

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSLK25539620090720

PARIS, July 20 (Reuters) - Workers at French car parts maker New Fabris voted on Monday to remove gas canisters they had threatened to use to blow up their factory to back demands for higher redundancy payouts, a union representative said.

>SNIP<
Renault and Peugeot have agreed to buy New Fabris' remaining stocks, subject to quality guarantees, on condition that the money goes to the company's former workers. But unions say that would leave each worker with a payout of just 6,600 euros.

Well that sucks, but I fail to see how two different companies that had been using this company as a supplier should have to pay their severance costs; seems to me that the management of New Fabris should perhaps have avoided making the companies dependent on just two clients for 90% of their sales, especially if there were signs that the auto market might contract (the European auto companies have been having their own difficulties in recent years). Sales for Renault and Peugeot are off about 15% each.

If anyone ought to be stumping up, you'd think it would be the French government rather than the customers who no longer want to buy what the factory makes. This would probably work at about 50 euro-cents for every French taxpayer, but that might not attract much public support...although it's unclear whether they're getting much anyway.

[Hannah Bell]

26. "meantime" = "today, 7/20"

[anigbrowl]

29. Yes, and?

This is the latest update on the story. Do you have a problem with it being posted here?

[Hannah Bell]

30. no, just with the equivalence of 'meantime' & 'today'.

[anigbrowl]

33. 'meantime' just means 'betweeen then and now'. What is your point?

Do you even have a point?

[Hannah Bell]

34. yes, ironically.

[anigbrowl]

38. Well, enjoy your argument about nothing

I'd hoped for a substantive response on the actual circumstances of the story, but apparently you're stuck in some linguistic timewarp.

[Vidar]

35. Vive la France!

[girl gone mad]

37. As American workers threaten to hand over more of their future earnings..

to failed banking elites.

[Kid Dynamite]

45. world gone mad, girl gone mad

[Echo In Light]

46. And w/full compliance. Most are likely completely unaware of the situation and what it means.

[madville]

40. If US workers did this

They would wind up being convicted felons if they managed to survive the SWAT raid