Air
France managers were, on Monday, forced to flee the company’s
headquarters after being attacked by a mob of workers that
tore their
clothes off.
Hundreds of angry staff stormed the Air France building at the
Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy, near Paris, after the
company announced plans to cut 2,900 jobs on Monday.
Two senior executives, Xavier Broseta, Vice President for Human
Resources, and Pierre Plissonnier, deputy of Air France long-haul
flights, both had their shirts ripped off their backs as they were
evacuated through the crowds.
Shortly before the attack, Mr Broseta and Air France Chief Executive,
Frederic Gagey, had outlined a drastic cost cutting plan, which would
see 2,900 jobs cut by 2017.
The cuts include 1,700 ground staff, 900 cabin crew and 300 pilots as part of efforts to lower costs, two union sources said.
Air France also confirmed in the meeting that it planned to shed 14
aircraft from its long-haul fleet, reducing the business by 10 per cent
and that it wants to cancel its order for Boeing 787 Dreamliner
aircraft.
This outraged staff, who are already at loggerheads with the company,
and hundreds stormed the building, interrupting the meeting.
Air France CEO had already left the room on Monday before the works
council meeting was interrupted about an hour after it had begun.
Mr Broseta and Mr Plissonnier had to be escorted through the crowds
by security as outraged union members tore their suits apart, forcing
them to climb over a fence to get to safety.
Parent Air France-KLM said it planned to take legal action over ‘aggravated violence’ carried out against its managers.
The action of the workers were later condemned by France’s main airline industry union FNAM, calling it ‘outdated behaviour.’
Violent protests by workers are commonplace in France, where the
population has a long tradition of taking the law into its own hands.
Traffic disruption, damage to public property and injuries to police
officers have gone hand-in-hand with a spate of demonstrations by
farmers, taxi drivers, ferry workers and even tobacconists.
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