French unions at tyre maker Continental said on Sunday they had won an agreement from management to give them a minimum pay-off of EUR50,000 (US$69,970) in compensation for the plant’s closure.
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The award is unusually high compared to others recently granted to French workers, a Reuters report noted.
Continental announced in March it would close its site in Clairoix, northern France, as well as its plant in Hanover, Germany, in response to a global collapse in orders.
Workers at Continental, whose highly publicised protests had become a symbol of blue-collar resistance, had refused the EUR17,000 in compensation first offered.
Management on Friday offered the company’s 1,120 workers in France a pay-off starting at EUR50,000 which would reach up to EUR100,000 for those working for the company for more than 30 years.
Employees would receive their normal salary until October and 85% of their pay until 2011 and unemployment benefit, or 75% of their salary, until 2014.
The French staff agreed to accept the offer on Saturday and unions told Reuters they expected to sign a formal agreement with Continental directors in a little more than a week.
Continental workers’ protests had included hurling eggs at directors, burning tyres in central Paris and protesting in front of the company’s headquarters in Hanover.
