Air France workers on trial over ripping off bosses’ shirts
BOBIGNY, France — Fifteen current and former Air France workers went on trial Tuesday for alleged violence during a union protest last year at the airline’s headquarters that saw two company executives flee over a fence with their shirts ripped off.
The incident, caught on camera, was an extreme example of the often-strained relations between French workers and their employers. The violence and this week’s trial come in the context of contested government efforts to reform national labour rules.
Dozens of Air France activists rallied in support of the defendants outside the courthouse in Bobigny, north of Paris, as the trial began.
Five Air France union members, who have since been fired, are charged with aggravated assault, and face up to three years in prison and a 45,000-euro fine if convicted. Ten Air France workers, who retained their jobs, face charges of property damage.
The violent protest took place last October during a union-management meeting at the airline’s headquarters next to Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris, where executives announced 3,000 job cuts after years of belttightening at the airline.
A disgruntled crowd of union activists and other employees broke through an access gate to reach Air France headquarters. During a scuffle outside the building, two managers and several security guards were manhandled.
Under catcalls and boos, with protesters chanting “naked, naked,” and “resignation,” the airline’s human resources director Xavier Broseta was seen barechested, with a tie still around his neck but just a piece of sleeve around his wrist.
Meanwhile, the head of longhaul operations, Pierre Plissonnier, ended up with his shirt and suit jacket shredded. The two managers, under protection of security guards, managed to escape by climbing a fence.
The company filed a complaint for aggravated assault. Management and unions alike insist that the violence emanated from a small minority of workers.
At Tuesday’s trial, defendants said they forced the access gate open “for security reasons” because the crowd was converging on the Air France site, and accesses were either closed or too small to let everybody in. The defendants also said police were posted just next to the gate and didn’t stop them.
Air France lawyers argued the site initially approved for the union rally was outside the site, not within the airline courtyard — much less inside the headquarters.