No charges over work bomb threats
Police say their role is to keep peace during industrial disputes, no matter how violent the dialogue becomes
WORKERS who threatened to blow up their factory have not been charged over the threats.
At Sodimatex in Crepy-en-Valoise workers laid wooden pallets around a gas tank and threatened to blow up the building if they did not get an improved compensation deal for the closure of the plant.
Workers at the PIP factory near Toulon also threatened to set fire to the plant after the breast implant firm closed in a fraud scandal when it was found they were using sub-standard gel that leaked.
When asked why gendarmes did not go in to deal with the Sodimatex threat an officer said their role was to keep the peace. It was for the préfecture, the workers and the managers to end the dispute.
The prefecture’s role is central – for example, Dordogne prefect Béatrice Abollivier says she represents the government, mediating in different situations including between businesses and banks to help them cope with the recession.
In the most recent cases, prefects and sous-prefects have mediated with the two sides – even when one was threatening to blow up the factory.
CGT union officials in Paris said workers had the right to occupy their workplace and to take action to protect their jobs – the threats were negotiating tactics to get attention.
No one, least of all police, felt there was a risk of explosion.
A union official said: “We are not barbarians. We are just highlighting the struggle to get action – no one seriously intends to blow up a factory
“Police would soon move in and there would be criminal charges laid if anyone tried to set off a bomb. It’s not a realistic threat – and if there’s no harm done then there’s no reason to lay charges.”
The violent rhetoric is the latest stage of disputes across France – last summer several stand-offs arose as workers held bosses hostage.
Workers at Sodimatex settled for improved deals worth €22,000 more than the statutory sum – and the average worker leaves their jobs with €51,000 compensation.
Despite the improved pay offs, Industry Minister Christian Estrosi greeted the deal, saying: “Threats go nowhere. Dialogue and common sense are the best allies of workers.”
Opinion polls say the majority of French people support the workers in their battles – one poll, in Le Parisien, found 45% backed tactics such as boss-napping and only 7% condemned them.
Another, for Paris Match, said that 63% found the tactics understandable.
