PITHIVIERS, FRANCE (AP) - Talks were to resume Wednesday at a plant run by U.S. company 3M south of Paris where striking workers were holding their boss hostage.
The workers want better severance packages for those being laid off and better conditions for those who keep their jobs.
About 20 workers took the director of 3M’s French operations, Luc Rousselet, hostage on Tuesday at a factory in Pithiviers.
Talks among workers and management were suspended overnight, but were to resume Wednesday. The top regional labor official was named to mediate in the talks.
The French division of 3M _ a diversified manufacturer known for Post-It notes and Scotch tape _ recently announced layoffs among its 2,700 workers at 13 French sites. Among those targeted are 110 of the Pithiviers factory’s 235 workers. The Maplewood, Minnesota-based 3M is also planning job cuts at facilities in the United States and other developed nations.
“We will go to the end to get what we deserve,” said Jean-Francois Caparros of the Force Ouvriere labor union.
The 3M workers have been on strike since Friday.
Company spokeswoman Catherine Hamon said Rousselet was blocked from leaving the factory Tuesday after arriving from 3M France headquarters near Paris. She said he had not been threatened with violence.
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