French workers hold bosses hostage over job cuts

Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports:

The world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment has announced plans to slash jobs in the United States and more than 700 workers were set to go in France.

"We are holding them in the director's office and we are in the process of talking to them so that they create a company committee to unblock negotiations," France Info quoted a union official as saying.

Recent French labour disputes have been marked by incidents in which workers have locked up managers to secure better conditions for laid-off staff.

Many French workers feel they are entitled to a job whether there is consumer demand for their job or not.