Okay, can opener past security? we know things are bad in the air cargo industry, but now things have clearly taken a dangerous turn – at least in France. Workers facing the sack from an air cargo company detained a manager overnight recently at Paris’ Roissy airport to push for better layoff terms. This is taking renowned Franco labourmilitancy to a whole new level!

According to French media reports, around 60 workers at Servisair Cargo prevented director Abderrahmane El-Aouffir from leaving the firm’s offices after he refused to meet their demands in what the media there has dubbed the latest case of so-called kidnapping de patron, otherwise known as ‘boss-napping’ to hit recession-bound France.

El-Aouffir had flown in from Britain to meet disgruntled staff , but workers told reporters he had little to offer. “He’s only off ering to transfer us to new positions within the group as refuse collectors or €1,400 to leave,” a Servisair worker told le Parisien, adding: “It’s not enough and we’re ready to go all the way.” Th e Belly Achers aren’t quite sure what exactly he meant by that…but we can only surmise it wasn’t a good thing!

Earlier this year staff at French plants run by Sony, 3M and Caterpillar protested job losses by holding managers overnight at their workplaces, while workers have also threatened to blow up factories to demand better redundancy payments. Vive la France! And, that does get us Belly Achers thinking about our own potential situation…