French Bank Siege Grinds Into Sixth Day

A siege at the headquarters of property lending group Credit Foncier dragged into a sixth day on Wednesday as staff holding top executives hostage poured cold water on a mediators plan to break the deadlock.

Staff assembled in the banks giant atrium were due to vote on Wednesday on a proposal by government-appointed mediator Philippe Rouvillois to put plans to dismantle the bank on hold while negotiations with staff continued, union officials said.

But staff representatives said protestors were ready to dig in their heels and keep the siege going if they did not get better guarantees over the fate of around 1,000 jobs.

 

The proposals we have been given are too vague. We are seeking stronger assurances, one union official said.

Bank chairman Jerome Meyssonnier and seven of his colleagues have been held in the bank offices since Friday in a protest over a plan by the government to split up the group, which it saved from bankruptcy last year. Unions say the proposal to spin off its main commercial activities, including low-cost social housing loans, to a cooperatively run credit group called Credit Immobilier threatens nearly a third of the banks 3,300 jobs. Staff want more time to try to find a rescue partner prepared to keep the 145-year-old lender alive in one piece.