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French factory workers go au natural

In a move which wouldn’t be out of place in a feel-good UK film set in a Northern industrial town, workers at a French boiler factory have stripped off for a nude calendar.

In a bid to save 204 jobs slated for redundancy, staff at the Chaffoteaux et Maury factory in Brittany will use the proceeds to fund a trip to Italy where they plan to stage a protest at their parent company, Ariston Thermo Group (ATG).

“Our aim is to show there are workers here who will do anything to save their jobs, even take their clothes off,” said Brigitte Coadic, union representative at the site.

Other French protest stunts have been less laid back, including activities such as “bossnappings,” threats to blow up factories or pollute the Seine river, as well as the traditional dumping of agricultural produce by angry farmers.

Coadic insists that the Chaffoteaux action, in which 13 male workers pose nude covered only with masks or helmets, is completely peaceful.

“We don’t want to destroy anything,” she said. “We want to show what we can do, tell the management that, if they keep us, we can turn all this media attention into something positive.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .