Workers Fired, Managers Held Hostage in France

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Workers of French parts maker Raquet held three leading managers hostage at the Monthermé factory in the Ardennes. The workers called the kidnapping a protest against cutting 73 of a total of 187 jobs. After the leader of their prefecture agreed to talks, the managers were released shaken, but unharmed. Automobilwoche [sub] says that this kind of hostage taking has become commonplace in France since the onset of carmageddon. The kidnappings receive a Gallic shrug-off: “This barely elicits a reaction anymore amongst the populace.”

Kids, don’t try this at home.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Landcrusher Landcrusher on Jun 23, 2009

    How does this not end with people in jail?

  • Wsn Wsn on Jun 23, 2009
    psarhjinian : June 23rd, 2009 at 10:07 am Well, what did you think the free market devolves into when you don’t have regulation and law to keep it in check? -------------------------------------------- Don't blame free market. Free market = free to buy, free to sell, free to fire, free to quit (without breaking signed contract). This is what happen when the rule of law is weakened, i.e. Chrysler bond holder fiasco.
  • Wsn Wsn on Jun 23, 2009

    BTW, this was how communism started in China. And I am not joking. No, the Chinese Communist Party was not established and run by a bunch of born villains. In the beginning, 1910ish, the base of the party were farmers who thought they were more entitled to the land than the landlords and workers who thought they were more entitled to the factories than the capitalists (aka Chrysler). And they won.

  • Anonymous Anonymous on Jun 23, 2009

    [...] Read the original here: Workers Fired, Managers Held Hostage in France | The Truth About Cars [...]

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