Approx. 10,000 Walk Out In "Power8" Protest

Five labor unions filled the streets of Toulouse, France with an estimated 10,000 striking Airbus workers on Tuesday. The demonstration was promised as labor's response to EADS "Power8" restructuring plan, which proposes to cut 10,000 jobs and either sell off or joint-venture six plants.

As ANN reported last week, two of the six affected sites are in France, three in Germany and one in Britain.

"We don't want to become Airbus odd-jobs men, we want to acquire new skills," said Jean-Francois Knepper, an official with French labor union Force Ouvriere, to The Associated Press.

The demonstration also drew out leaders of anti-free-trade groups and political parties, and appeared to signal the emergence of the dispute as an issue in France's presidential election. Candidates, some of whom recently took the position that Airbus should be a private company, are now making competing promises of government intervention.

France's Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, is the conservative party candidate. He said last week that governments make poor strategic shareholders. But this week, he's saying that the French state should be better represented as a shareholder in Airbus.

The opposing Socialist party is supporting a bid by several French regions to buy a stake, to balance several regional German governments which have done the same.

The European Metalworkers' Federation, a Brussels-based trade organization, called for another day of strikes and protests by Airbus workers across Europe on March 16.

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.force-ouvriere.fr/