Bosses held overnight by factory workers

Two Goodyear bosses held captive by workers have spent the night inside a factory in northern France that the company wants to close.

The Amiens plant, which Goodyear has tried to sell or mothball for five years, has become an emblem of France’s labour issues, and the seizure of the two managers – the plant’s director and its human resources chief – resurrected the once-common practice of boss-napping.

[comment] Bernard Glesser, left, and production manager Michel Dheilly[/comment]

Sylvain Niel, a labour lawyer who has worked on similar issues, said the tactic fell away because any agreements under pressure were later voided in courts.

He described it as an act of despair by workers “without room to manoeuvre”.

But the Amiens plant has an especially contentious past, with sometimes violent protests against the closure.