The People Bulletin

It appears the French do things differently, and the UK upsurge in union activity seems tame compared with the recent examples of ‘bossnapping’ – taking the boss hostage until the workers get the deal they want.

Adam Sage, writing in The Times [1] reported on 16 April: ‘Alain Thomas, human resources manager of the French division of Superior Essex, the US-based cable and wire manufacturer, and Olivier Dalicieux, manager of the company’s factory in Mâcon, central France, have been held since Wednesday in a dispute over redundancy pay.’ The Korean-owned branch was earmarked for closure after a 30% drop in sales.

Sage had reported that Post-it note manufacturer 3M suffered a similar malaise back in March [2] when Luc Rousselet, the industrial director of 3M in France, was ‘held overnight at Pithiviers in central France as a ‘bargaining chip’, according to unions.  He was released in the early hours of this morning to boos from staff, after a deal had been signed offering more favourable treatment for the 110 employees who face losing their jobs. Unions had demanded more money for departing staff, guarantees for those remaining and payment of salaries for those who went on strike over the redundancy plan.’

These are just two examples of what The Economist is predicting to be a likely increase in adverse industrial relations around the world once spending cuts start to bite in what it sees as ‘bloated public sectors’. However it is not predicting a return to a global season of discontent along the lines of what happened in the 1970s, making the point that: ‘in virtually all rich countries, union membership and the amount of time lost to strikes has plunged. The days when unions had big strike funds and could ride out long disputes, are mostly gone.’[3]

See also: ‘Across the picket line’ by Lisa Patmore in The People Bulletin, 21 April 2010.   

[1]http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/industrials/article7099711.ece

[2] http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/industrials/article5974895.ece

[3] http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15955386