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UNIONS
A town-hall-type meeting at a Belgian coatings plant ended in a hostage situation late last month. On the morning of Nov. 24, executives of SigmaKalon showed up at the company's Manage, Belgium, site to discuss a restructuring that would leave about 160 workers at the plant unemployed, according to a SigmaKalon spokesman. The workers wanted to immediately discuss a social plan for those laid off, including benefits and retraining, and took six executives as hostages. The workers used no weapons, but locked the executives in a conference room, later giving them access to an adjoining corridor. Attempts were made to free the captives through mediation, a court order, and threats of police action. The executives were finally released at 1:30 AM on Nov. 27. "As bizarre as this might sound," a SigmaKalon spokesman said, "no one got arrested." Moreover, the company agreed to resolve negotiations with the union for a social plan by Dec. 20. Bain Capital, headquartered in Boston, bought SigmaKalon from TotalFinaElf earlier this year. |
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