French PM backs Airbus cuts as protests spread
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The French prime minister defended thousands of job cuts at Airbus on Thursday, but protests over the losses at the planemaker silenced three German plants in a backlash that could threaten recovery hopes.
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French President Sarkozy moves to prevent friction over Turkey's EU membership bid.
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Troubled planemaker Airbus  confirmed 10,000 job cuts and announced plans to sell all or  part of six factories on Wednesday, as workers protested and  European politicians hailed a hard-fought compromise.
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French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said on Tuesday he had talked with Chancellor Angela Merkel about the problems at Airbus and confirmed it is seeking to cut 10,000 jobs.Comment
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Striking transport workers shut down most  of France's rail network on Thursday in a protest over  pensions, posing the biggest test yet of President Nicolas  Sarkozy's ability to push through economic reforms.
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Thousands of Airbus workers went on strike at its French factories on Tuesday, protesting against the European planemaker's restructuring plan that has dominated France's presidential election campaign.Comment
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Thousands of striking French Airbus workers, blowing whistles, exploding firecrackers and flying banners, marched through Toulouse on Tuesday to try to force the struggling planemaker to ditch plans for massive job cuts.
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Paris- French Finance Minister Thierry Breton Sunday defended theEADS "Power8" restructuring plan, calling it "indispensable" for the Airbus airplane manufacturer in an interview with several French media.Comment
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LE HAVRE, France  - French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on French voters on Tuesday to back him again in next month's parliamentary elections so he can push through the sweeping economic reforms he has promised.
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The government, goaded by presidential candidates into responding to large job cuts at the airplane maker Airbus, said it was ready to pump cash into the company and shake up a Franco-German power-sharing pact. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin also called on the parent of Airbus, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, to abandon paying a dividend this year to its shareholders, which include the French government, after announcing plans to cut 10,000 jobs. Some 4,300 of those jobs are in France. Mr. Villepin, above, said the government stood ready to participate if the holding company decided to tap its shareholders for more cash through a capital increase to shore up a company badly hit by delays to the new Airbus A380 superjumbo airliner. âThe state will play its role,â he said. However, EADSâs biggest private shareholder, the German car company DaimlerChrysler, has battled for years to prevent what it regards as state meddling.
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European plane maker Airbus finally won approval to press ahead with a rescue plan on Monday, clearing the way for major job cuts and signalling an end to Franco-German tensions over the restructuring of the company.
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TOULOUSE, France  - Troubled planemaker Airbus confirmed 10,000 job cuts and announced plans to sell all or part of six factories on Wednesday, as workers protested and European politicians hailed a hard-fought compromise.
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The EU on Wednesday backed  Airbus in a row over state subsidies with U.S. rival Boeing Co.   while yet another client of the European planemaker  threatened to cancel orders for the A380 superjumbo.
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Airbus unions threatened strikes over job cuts at the troubled planemaker on Tuesday, dampening efforts by European governments to calm the fears of its 55,000 staff on the eve of a key restructuring plan.
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French teachers went on strike on Thursday, the third day of public sector protests over pay, reforms and job cuts that have sent a sharp warning to President Jacques Chirac's conservative government.
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A shake-up at Airbus will slash 10,000 jobs and sell all or part of six factories, French trade union CGT confirmed on Wednesday, as workers protested and politicians hailed a hard-fought compromise.
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PARIS -- Voters resoundingly endorsed President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to overhaul the French economy, giving his party a commanding lead yesterday in the first round of elections for parliament.