> _________________________________________________________________ > =20 > HUNDREDS OF UNARMED EMPLOYEES OCCUPY=20 > _________________________________________________________________ > =20 > Captors are holding the governor and six directors of the ailing > Credit Foncier de France, Lara Marlowe writes from Paris > =20 > Mr Jerome Meyssonier, governor of the Credit Foncier de France (CFF), > sat at the long conference table, flanked by six of the troubled > bank's directors. Three heavy crystal chandeliers hung above them. The > walls were covered in red and gold damask. The Place Vendome loomed > beyond the high 18th-century windows, just a stone's throw from the > Place de La Concorde, where aristocrats were guillotined during the > French Revolution. Perhaps Mr Meyssonier and his colleagues were > thinking about 1789, for there was a whiff of revolution in the air. > =20 > No, Mr Meyssonier said, he did not consider himself a hostage. "Do I > look like a hostage?" he snapped. Did that mean he was free to go? > "That's another question," he answered testily. > =20 > On Friday morning, bank employees burst into a meeting of the bank's > directors and announced that no one could leave until the governor > came in person. Reached by telephone, Mr Meyssonier arrived shortly > thereafter. More than a dozen unarmed trade unionist bodyguards have > ensured that he does not escape, and he is eating and sleeping in=20 > his bank apartment. > =20 > The captors have offered to allow the governor's deputies to go in > shifts to bathe and change clothes; the deputies have not yet > accepted. No one but bank employees and journalists are allowed to > enter the CFF headquarters. Yesterday was the third day of the > occupation by several hundred bank employees, and the strain was > beginning to show. > =20 > At least 1,800 of 3,300 jobs at the CFF will be lost if the plan by > the Finance Minister, Mr Jean Arthuis, to cede the ailing bank to the > rival Credit Immobilier is passed by the French Assembly next month. > "I've always been shocked to see that journalists write only about the > number of jobs being lost," Mr Meyssonier complained. "Why don't you > write about the efforts we are making to save jobs?" > =20 > The CFF was founded in 1852 under Napoleon III. The conduit for > low-interest government loans to disadvantaged home buyers, it was > nonetheless a private bank. CFF employees have tried to stall the > liquidation of their bank since 1995 results showed =A31.33 billion in > losses. Over the past year, they have briefly occupied the stock > exchange and two provincial government offices. They twice marched on > the Elysee Palace, where they scuffled with riot police. > =20 > Last Wednesday, Mr Arthuis announced his intention to go ahead with > the plan to dismantle the CFF. The employees decided it was time to > take more dramatic action. > =20 > Did Mr Meyssonier feel any solidarity with his staff? "I understand > their worries," he said. "But that doesn't justify the means they are > using." Trade union leaders camping out in the bank's marblepillared > central hall told The Irish Times they have contingency plans for a > police assault. "I have no intention of asking the police to do > anything," Mr Meyssonier said. "But there are limits." > =20 > Although definitive figures are not yet available, he conceded that > the CFF probably made =A396.4 million in profits in 1996 - an argument > used by his employees as proof their bank should not be dismantled. > "We would need at least 3 billion francs, (=A3361 million)," Mr > Meyssonier said. "The bank has to be restructured. It needs > capitalisation, and the government has said it will not=20 > recapitalise us." > =20 > Mattresses and clothing were piled along the walls of the bank's grand > central hall, where men and women helped themselves to coffee, mineral > water and sandwiches. > =20 > Mr Patrice Faucheux, a representative of the Communist CGT union, has > worked for 23 years at the CFF, where he distributes mail. "I'm > fighting not only for my job, but for the right of French people to > buy their own houses," Mr Faucheux said. "The state is trying to shed > responsibility for housing. That's why they want to break the CFF. The > state is pulling out of all kinds of establishments with public > duties. We'd be happy if our action sparked a broader movement. > There's a deep social malaise in this country - even if we don't often > see things like this. The trade unions have to work together to reject > the fate the government is trying to impose on us." > =20 > =A9 Copyright: The Irish Times > Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >
