We’ll meet riot cops face to face…’ France: Workers Seize Factory, Fight for Jobs

LA-SEYNE-SUR-MER, FRANCE, April 10 — The 120 workers at Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) have occupied their factory and are threatening to burn it down if the government does not step in to save their jobs. “We’ve made molotov cocktails and we’ve put highly inflammable materials at the factory gate,” said union steward Eric Mariacci.

“We’re not going to play the fool any more,” added Ryad, a production worker. “If they send in the riot police, we’ll meet them face to face.”

The workers have made bonfires of pallets and tires and dumped thousands of silicone breast implants to block the factory entrance. A thick black smoke envelopes the industrial zone.

“But it isn’t enough to burn breast implants,” said Sabine, another production worker. “We’ve killed ourselves on the job, sometimes ruining our health handling noxious substances. Today we find ourselves without a salary, without benefits, with families to feed and debts on our backs. So,  yes, we’re determined,” he exclaimed.

On March 30, PIP products were ordered withdrawn from the market due to fraudulent raw materials used in their manufacture. The implants are likely to break open, pouring poison into a woman’s breasts. PIP immediately shut down and on March 30 was declared bankrupt by the courts.

The workers are demanding government emergency funds for layoff damages of at least 15,000 euros ($19,000) per worker.

Meanwhile, the union leaders are playing their usual sellout role. “We’re here to calm things down,” emphasized the union’s regional general secretary.

PIP is the world’s third-largest breast implant manufacturer and exports 90% of its production, much of it to the U.S.

In 2003, the company was taken over by the Miami-based Falic Fashion Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Duty Free Americas, the second-largest duty-free goods operator in the U.S. The Group also owns the brand names Perry Ellis Fragrance and Daddy Yankee Fragrance and runs airport duty-free shops in Boston, Chicago and New York as well as stores along the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico.

In 2007 PIP made 13.1 million euros in sales, but sales fell below 10 million euros during the world financial crisis, so the company began offshoring production to China. In France, the graveyard shift was eliminated and temporary workers were laid off.

The PIP case proves once again that the bosses are always ready to risk public health in their drive for maximum profits. When their fraud is discovered, they force the workers to pay the price. Only communist revolution can end this exploitation