THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The entire workforce of a British French-based ceramics factory has gone on strike in protest at the "Anglo Saxon industrial imperialism" because management only speak English
Some 184 staff at Thermal Ceramics, in Saint-Marcellin-en-Forez, in the Loire Valley, are staging walkouts every day.
"We say 'hello' in French but then communication stops," said workers' representative Thierry Juvin, adding that "every meeting is an ordeal."
He said workers at the factory, which makes ceramic fibre insulation, wanted to discuss wage rises and improved working conditions, but it was proving impossible.
"We have to have someone who translates everything into English, and then anything our English boss says has to be translated into French.
"This makes dialogue extremely slow, if not impossible."
Mr Juvin said three walkouts had been held on most days since English-speaking bosses began managing them earlier this year. » | Peter Allen in Paris | Wednesday, April 20, 2011
