Maurice Taylor, the CEO of a major tire manufacturer- Titan International- finally came out with what everyone thinks about the French labor unions. He published an awesome letter in a French daily saying the following:
- French workers work only 3 hours a day
- He would be stupid to take over a Goodyear Tire factory going out of business because the “French workforce gets paid high wages but only works three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three. I told the French union workers to their faces. They told me that’s the French way!”
- “Sir, your letter states that you want Titan to start a discussion. How stupid do you think we are? Titan is the one with the money and the talent to produce tires. What does the crazy union have? It has the French government. Titan is going to buy a Chinese tire company or an Indian one, pay less than one Euro per hour wage and ship all the tires France needs,” Taylor said. “You can keep the so-called workers.”
I love honest plain-speaking businesspeople.