UNIONS DIVIDED OVER SHIFT PLAN AT FRENCH GOODYEAR SITE

Les Echos, July 9, 2008

At the French Amiens site of US tyre manufacturer Goodyear, the deadline set by management for unions to sign an agreement regarding a planned 4x8 shift pattern passed yesterday without the green light from the two main unions at the site, SUD and CGT. This gives rise to the risk of an escalation in the tense mood at the site, where management has been forced to suspend production since the week-end owing to violent incidents. The blockade by striking workers continued yesterday in spite of a court injunction ordering that it be lifted.

According to a bailiff's report submitted by unions, the vote on June 27, at which a 73-per-cent vote was obtained in favour of the new shift working plan, was beset by irregularities. This is expected to aggravate the rift between, on one hand, the unions CFE-CGC and CFTC, which gave their seal of approval to the plan, and, on the other, CGT, Force Ouvriere and SUD. While CGT, the main union at the site, has announced its intention to exercise its right to oppose, CFTC has said that there is no alternative, and that the 4x8 shift pattern would be preferable to job losses.