Industry News

More Cat Layoffs In France

May 12, 2009

Caterpillar has announced that it will lay off 733 workers in two French factories. The layoff decision followed a refusal by a special council of workers' representatives to pass judgment on a series of measures to help those who would lose jobs.

Caterpillar also refused a demand to withdraw a legal complaint against 19 employees involved in a March 31 hostage-taking in which company managers were held by disgruntled workers for more than 24 hours. The tactic is not new to France but workers have increasingly used it to pressure management in labor disputes since the start of the economic downturn.

At one point, Caterpillar offered to reduce the number of layoffs from 733 to 600 if an accord were signed. However, the majority of the 2552 workers at the Grenoble and nearby Echirolles sites refused to approve in a vote May 6.

In February, Caterpillar France said it was facing a 55% loss of orders between 2008 and 2009. In response to the worsening economic prospects, Caterpillar in January announced job cuts that will ultimately eliminate more than 24,000 positions worldwide.