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French rig factory with explosives
ROUEN, France -- Disgruntled workers have rigged the roof of their factory with explosives to demand better redundancy pay, a union spokesman has said. The workers are unhappy with the redundancy packages being offered by their employer Moulinex after the electrical appliance-maker company announced it was being dissolved. Union official Serge Robine said 100 members of staff had rigged the plant in northern France with explosives on Monday, threatening to blow it up unless they are offered special redundancy payments. Robine told Reuters news agency workers at the plant, in the Normandy town of Cormelles-le-Royal, have put bottles of oxygen, acetylene and butane as well as acids and petrol on the roof of the plant and near a gas cistern. A banner near the factory read: "Money or it blows. That's the message." Police put the number of protesters at about 50. The authorities had no immediate comment on how they planned to deal with the situation. Moulinex's main assets were sold to rival appliance maker Seb last month in a deal cleared by a French bankruptcy court. The rest of the company will be dissolved. The acquisition will save only about 1,855 jobs in its French factories, out of 5,590. The workers are demanding special redundancy payments of 80,000 francs ($11,000), Robine, of the CGT union, said. Moulinex management and staff representatives are due to discuss redundancies later on Monday at the company's headquarters at Nanterre, outside Paris. |
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