French workers threaten to blow up Nortel factory

Workers at the French arm of telecommunications manufacturer Nortel have threatened to blow up their factory unless they secure decent layoff terms, but gas cylinders placed around the plant were empty, a newspaper said. French daily Le Parisien said on July 15 the workers had placed gas cylinders in front of the plant in the Yvelines area near Paris,
where 480 jobs are set to be axed following bankruptcy proceedings. In the second threat by French workers to blow up a factory in a week, the paper said the workers had threatened to stage an explosion as early as July 15 if their demands were not met, but said the gas cylinders were empty. No immediate comment was available from Toronto-
based Nortel, once the largest North American telecommunications equipment manufacturer but which filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the United States

in January. The workers were also bitter about the way the authorities handling the case in France were proceeding, the paper said.


More....