French workers accused of 'being lazy' by U.S. tycoon riot on streets as last ditch protest to save 1,200 jobs descends into violence

Workers from the Amiens Goodyear plant gathered at the company offices



They were told at the end of January that the plant would close imminently

As union bosses met with managers the protest in Paris turned violent

New figures show French unemployment levels at their highest since 1999



Workers at a French tyre-making factory clashed with riot police today as last-ditch protests aimed at saving their jobs turned violent.

Staff from the Goodyear factory in northern France gathered outside the company's offices near Paris as they continued to rally against attempts to restructure or close the Amiens plant which employs 1,200 people.

But as union representatives met with company management inside, protestors fought with police on the streets outside, setting fire to piles of tyres.

The trouble flared as it was announced that unemployment figures in France had reached their highest for more than 13 years in the last quarter of 2012.



It also comes after American tycoon Maurice Taylor - chairman of U.S. tyre giant Titan International - refused to rescue the Goodyear tyre factory because its workers are 'lazy, overpaid and talk too much'.

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Clashes: Riot police are pictured near Paris today as a last ditch protest by workers to save a Goodyear plant that employs 1,200 staff descended into violence

Anger: Tyres can be seen burning in the foreground as Goodyear staff clash with police in Paris today

Riot: Police form a line to drive protestors back as a fire rages close by. The workers were told in January that their factory in Amiens is to close imminently

Maurice "Morry" Taylor delivered the crushing summary of how some outsiders view France's work ethic in a letter

In the letter released on Feburary 19, Mr Taylor said his company would not be buying a Goodyear tyre plant in Amiens that is threatened with closure and the loss of 1,170 jobs, telling French industry ministry Arnaud Montebourg: 'I have visited the factory several times.



'The French workforce gets paid high wages but works only three hours.



'They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three hours and work for three. I told the French union workers this to their faces. They told me that's the French way!'

The letter sent by Mr Taylor sparked a row with the government, with Mr Montebourg branding the description ‘ridiculous’, saying that he would instruct government agencies – including the tax office – to examine Mr Taylor’s business with ‘redoubled zeal’.

Goodyear said on January 31 that it would be closing its main French plant and cutting its workforce in France by 39 percent amid labor disputes and plunging car demand in Europe.

The issue is now creating unrest in Paris as one demonstrator tore away a policeman's shield while another hit the officer on the head.

Only a spray of tear gas pushed the mob back.

The tyre firm announced that it was to close the plant at the end of January.

Today's meetings between unions and management are said to be to discover the findings of an independent report into the social and economic impact that the closure of the plant will have.

The French Government is proposing to reform the labor regulation that has held up the factory's closure after five years of attempts by the company to restructure the plant.

Line of defence: Police sprayed tear gas at demonstrators in a bid to drive them back

Burning rubber: Officers look on as a demonstrator wearing a Goodyear protest slogan T shirt throws another tyre onto a raging fire

Running battles: Protestors attempt to storm a barricade as police fend them off outside the Goodyear offices in west Paris

The workers were infuriated last month when tyre executive Taylor, CEO of Titan International, said the plant was 'not worth saving'.

The fortunes of the Goodyear plant are in stark contrast to that of a Dunlop plant just across the road which is going from strength to strength.

The two plants, whose shared parent is Goodyear Dunlop, chose different destinies four years ago when Dunlop's unions accepted tougher labour conditions and Goodyear's rejected them.

Now Goodyear faces closure, while Dunlop has received more than 50 million euros in investment.



Union leaders at the two plants on the outskirts of Amiens, where riots erupted last August, were friends before a management request to merge the plants and switch to four daily work shifts from three previously tore them apart in 2009.

Scuffle: One worker is seen kicking out at a riot policeman who tries to use his shield to protect himself

Violence: One protestor was seen taking a policeman's shield while another threw a punch at him

Defending the country's work ethic a fortnight ago, Mr Montebourg said that America was in fact the top foreign investor in France, with 4,200 US companies employing nearly half a million people within the country.

Haviland & Co. has been present in France since 1842, IBM since 1914, Coca-Cola since 1933 and General Electric since 1974, while last year companies including Massey Ferguson, Mars chocolate and 3M chose to invest further in France.

Mr Montebourg added: ‘But most importantly, in contrast to your ridiculous and derogatory comments, all these companies know and appreciate the quality and productivity of the French workforce and the commitment, know-how, talent and skills of French workers.’

Apparently warning Mr Taylor against further attacks, Mr Montebourg wrote: ‘In the meantime, rest assured that you can count on me to have the competent government agencies survey your imported tyres with a redoubled zeal.’

But the government is now facing a growing problem to find a rescuer for the troubled plant.



Heated: A plume of black smoke billows high into the air as riot police stand close to the flames generated by the burning tyres

The trouble erupted as it was announced today that French unemployment figures had reached their highest for more than 13 years.

The sixth consecutive quarterly increase means that 10.6 per cent of French residents were unemployed in the last quarter of 2012, according to the national statistics institute Insee.



It also means that unemployment in the country is at its highest since the second quarter of 1999 and is the latest bad news for a government that has admitted it will fall far short of growth and public deficit targets this year.



The French economy also contracted by 0.6 per cent in the last three months of the year.

Other data published on Thursday showed a widening trade deficit.

The figures prompted renewed calls from the French Government for action at a European level to help improve the Euro Zone's second largest economy.

The European commission has predicted that unemployment in the country will reach 10.7 per cent this year, nearly double the unemployment rate in Germany and only slightly behind Italy's 11.6 per cent.

But France's unemployment rate is still far better than in Greece and Spain.

President Francois Hollande took power last May promising to halt a relentless rise in unemployment which has left one in four youths out of work and vowing to restore France’s industrial competitiveness.

The president’s approval ratings have slumped to around 30 percent since then as his government battles against a tide of factory closures.

