A French trade union representing Airbus workers threatened to disrupt production at the troubled aircraft manufacturer if the company refuses to re-negotiate a new restructuring plan, REPORTED DPA. Julien Talavan, general secretary of the Force Ouvriere (FO) trade union at Airbus, said in an interview published Monday in the daily La Tribune his union was prepared to "block the production of airplanes" if a new discussion with Airbus executives did not lead to a re-distribution of production between French and German Airbus factories. He said that the decision taken as part of the Power8 programme to have a final assembly line of the A320 aircraft transferred to the German city of Hamburg was "unacceptable." As a result, he demanded to "discuss again with (Airbus head) Louis Gallois this division of industry." Talavan also said his union opposed the spinning off or sale of the French Airbus sites at Meaulte and Saint Nazaire, as foreseen in the restructuring programme, which also called for 10,000 job cuts over four years.
