French plant lets go of 35-hour week

Workers at a French plant belonging to German auto component-maker Bosch have agreed to move from a 35 to a 36-hour week to prevent production being transferred off site.

The 820 employees at Vénissieux near Lyon were told by the company they faced the choice of increasing their working time from 35 to 36 hours a week, without an increase in pay, or seeing a new investment in injection pumps going to the Czech Republic. The company calculated that the savings it would get from the increase in hours would allow it to make the €12 million investment needed in France.

The agreement to increase hours was initially signed by two of the unions involved - the CFE-CGC, representing higher grade staff, and the CFDT, one of France's two main union confederations. In a vote, 98% of the total workforce backed the deal.

CFDT national secretary Michel Jalmain said the agreement was not a general attack on the 35-hour week. But the other main union federation, the CGT, which opposed the deal, said it was "a threat to the world of work".

Meanwhile French president Jacques Chirac, although acknowledging that the 35-hour week is an "acquired right", has called for more flexibility in how the law is applied.

* Employers in the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria have called for a return to the 40-hour week.