First, a disclaimer: I can't advocate these extreme tactics, but find them fascinating.
It would seem that the French have gotten the attention of a US construction company by threatening to explode gas canisters at their plant, located in Tonneis, in south-western France.
Why would the French workers do such a thing? The rest of the story, below the fold...
The reason the French threatened to do such a thing was because they felt the US company had not given better "redundancy" terms to workers that had been laid-off. That's right: They got screwed by their American employers and threatened to blow shit up if it didn't stop.
It stopped.
And some people here in the U.S. call the French "wimps".
It's not just threats of exploding gas canisters, either. In other parts of France, workers have taken managers hostage in "boss-nappings".
I'm just guessing here, but I bet there aren't many Wal-Marts in France.
Anyway... here's what they got for getting really pissed off about their co-workers who were laid off from JLG Industries - a subsidiary of a US company that makes cranes and other construction equipment, called Oshkosh:
In the JLG deal, the 53 affected workers were each guaranteed 30,000 euros (£26,000; $42,000) in severance pay.
(Yeah, I know - not a lot but probably about $42 grand more than they would've gotten had no one raised hell)
So here's what's fascinating to me: At least in France, anyway, this seems to work! Perhaps we could learn a few things from the French worker... Just sayin'...
Oh yeah... they even have health care! I'll bet most of our laid-off workers don't - or they're paying $1,000/month for COBRA, 'til it runs out.
I'll leave you with this while pondering Goldman Sachs' profit bonanza, after the US taxpayer bailed them out:
The BBC's Emma Jane Kirby in Paris says there is an acute sense of injustice in France at the moment, with many workers complaining that while their bosses continue to reap company benefits and bonuses, they are paying for this economic crisis with their jobs.