Pave: Le sacré et le profane

In France work is sacred. It placidly floats above turbulent markets. It is not constrained by managements. It is exempted from business arithmetic, from business realities. It is imperviable to its own burdens.

Not all can touch the hem of the sacred. And those that do find it a hardship.

In today's story the sacred triumphs over a profane management sacrilegiously calculating profit.

WORKERS LOCK UP MANAGERS
OVER RELOCATION PLANS

SAINT HIPPOLYTE DU FORT, France May 30, 2007 (AFP) - Shoe factory workers in southern France took four senior managers captive on Wednesday after the firm announced plans to relocate its production to Tunisia.

Managers of Jallatte, Europe's leading manufacturer of safety shoes, told workers early Wednesday they intended to cut 285 out of 336 jobs across its four French production sites.

Furious at the news, union leaders and workers burst into a meeting in the southern town of Saint Hippolyte du Fort, attended by four top executives, including Giovanni Falco, managing director of the company's Italian owner JAL.

The managers were held captive for several hours, until Falco agreed to push back by three weeks a June 6 meeting intended to kickstart the restructuring plan.

And that, dear skimmer, is the whole of it. Apparently there is no criminal prosecution or penalty for hostage-taking by disgruntled workers in Saint Hippolyte du Fort or all of France.

PFFT (What is this?): Work is sacred 3½ | Rayonnement français 0