Goodyear bosses held hostage by workers

Goodyear’s French subsidiary said it won’t open talks with union representatives over closing a plant as two local executives were being held hostage for a second day.

Workers at a Goodyear tyre plant in northern France have taken two of their bosses hostage over plans to shut down the factory.

“The management of Goodyear Dunlop Tyres France won’t participate in any meeting with employees’ representatives as long as two of its managers are being held,” the tyre maker said in an e-mailed statement.

The two managers taken hostage are Michel Dheilly, director of production at Goodyear's Amiens-Nord factory, and Bernard Glesser, head of human resources at the site.

Mickael Wamen, leader of the CGT union at Goodyear's Amiens-Nord factory, yesterday confirmed that hostages had been taken.

“They’ll be held hostage until we have a guarantee that real negotiations will start on bonuses and severance packages for all employees,” he said by phone. Goodyear, which employs about 3,000 people in France, announced plans last year to shut the facility.

The company cited a failure to reach an agreement to raise productivity after five years of negotiations with the CGT, the main union at the site.

The Ohio-based tiremaker at the time didn’t set a date for closing the factory. Efforts to shut the factory led to 19 police officers getting injured in March after clashes with protesting workers.

A month earlier, the 1,173 Goodyear workers whose jobs are at risk demonstrated with their spouses and children. The CGT has also filed a lawsuit against Goodyear in Ohio.

Bloomberg