Bossnapping
Bossnapping is a form of
These incidents resulted in a public call for an end to the practice by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, despite public opinion polling which showed widespread sympathy for the protesters.
Description
The term "bossnapping" began receiving widespread use in the media following a series of high-profile incidents in
They barricaded the entrance to the facility with tree trunks, and held their hostages until the CEO agreed to a renegotiation of the severance package that laid-off workers were to receive. Later that month, workers at a
Workers in the 3M incident provided a dinner of mussels and french fries to their kidnapped boss while he was being held.[3]
In July 2009, workers of Azur Chimie (previously Arkéma)[4] plant located in Port Le Bouc took headquarters and majority shareholders as hostages to weigh in the negotiations regarding the layoff of half of the workforce.[5] A snapshot of these negotiations was videotaped.
In May 2010, workers of a Caterpillar Inc. plant in Grenoble took five managers as hostages to enforce negotiations about 733 job losses.[6] They freed the managers after 10 hours when policemen began to record the bossnappers' names.[7]
During the same month, about 300 workers of a Toyota factory in Onnaing (Northern France) blocked all entrances and hindered all trucks from leaving the premises.[7]
Further bossnappings took place in a worksite of Hewlett-Packard in France and a lock-in of managers occurred at market research firm Synovate in Auckland, New Zealand as a part of a labor dispute during a contract renegotiation there.[3][8] The wave of high-profile incidents led to publication of advice for managers who might be bossnapped, although news reports made clear that the hostages had been treated well by their bossnappers. This advice included the preparation of special bossnapping kits that included a change of clothes and a cell phone pre-programmed with numbers of family members, police, and a psychologist who might assist with the psychological stress caused by being the hostage in such an incident.[3]
These incidents took place in the context of wider French labor unrest related to the
In April 2009, in response to the ongoing series of bossnapping incidents, French President
See also
- Gherao
- Union violence
- Wildcat strike action
References
- ^ Amble, Brian (2009-03-26). "Bossnapping". Management Issues. Archived from the original on 2009-12-28. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
- ^ a b "Sacked French workers take to 'bossnapping'". Agence France-Presse. 2009-03-25. Archived from the original on 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
- ^ a b c Keating, Joshua (2009-04-23). "Bossnapping Wave Sweeps France". Foreign Policy. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
- ^ "Port-de-Bouc | PCF.fr". lot.pcf.fr. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
- ^ NPALongwy54. "Suite de la liste non exaustive". NPA Longwy Transfrontalier (in French). Retrieved 2020-07-20.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Ab jetzt ein Trend". sueddeutsche.de (in German). 17 May 2010.
- ^ a b "Flammender Protest". sueddeutsche.de (in German). 17 May 2010.
- ^ "Locked out call-centre staff lock managers in". New Zealand Herald. 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
- ^ Bon, Gerard & Michelson, Marcel (2009-07-12). "French workers threaten to blow up factory". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
- ^ Matlack, Carol (2009-04-08). "Sarkozy's "Bossnapping" Dilemma". Business Week. Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-01.