Prison for Goodyear bossnappers

Eight former workers at Goodyear’s Amiens Nord tyre factory in France have been sentenced to nine months in prison and given suspended sentences of 15 months for their roles in the January 2014 ‘bossnapping’ of two Goodyear managers. The workers faced charges of kidnapping and violence in a meeting.

Following sentencing by the Amiens Criminal Court (Le tribunal correctionnel d’Amiens), Mickaël Wamen former GCT union representative at the plant and one of the eight men sentenced, commented that the French government wished to “make an example” of the Goodyear workers. “Goodyear’s management withdrew its complaint. Only the prosecutor upheld the prosecution,” he stated. The eight intend to appeal the sentence.

Michel Dheilly, production manager at Goodyear’s Amiens Nord plant, and human resources director Bernard Glaser were forcibly held for almost 30 hours after a meeting between management and the CGT union on 6 January 2014 went sour.