At least 2,500 European employees of General Electric (GE) have protested in Paris against the US industrial conglomerate's restructuring plans, which include 6,500 job losses throughout the continent.
The demonstrators came to the French capital from throughout Europe with 700 from Germany and hundreds more from Italy, Poland, Belgium and France itself. A large number were from French company Alstom, four months after GE acquired its power and grid businesses. Other protests took place in Germany, Spain, Austria. Belgium, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland, according to the international union federation IndustriAll.
To the sounds of whistles, klaxons and rattles, the Paris protesters brandished banners reading ‘Stop the massacre of jobs’ and, in English, “Keep your word, stop job cuts!” GE is most of the way through a restructuring to hone its focus on its key traditional industrial businesses, which include railway equipment and renewable energy like wind turbines.