& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Ford faces outrage in France over factory closure

AFP, Bordeaux
US carmaker Ford came under fire from the French government on Monday over its plans to close a factory producing gear boxes in southwest France that employs 850 people.
After a meeting between union representatives and French officials. Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire sounded furious at the US group's desire to shut the plant near Bordeaux, rather than sell it to a French buyer.
"If they think they can just shut up shop and that the state and local authorities won't react, then they're making a mistake," Le Maire told reporters. "We're going to fight and we won't be taken advantage of."
"Ford's position cannot be defended and what can't be defended needs to be combatted," he added.
Ford announced in February that it
would stop investing in its Blanquefort plant, which has produced gear boxes since 1972, and the issue has been raised by the French and US governments.
It declined to comment on Le Maire's remarks on Monday.
The factory has become another battleground between French trade unions and American multinationals that are often portrayed in France as heartless job-slashing capitalists.
Plans by US appliance maker Whirlpool to close a factory in the northern town of Amiens became a controversy during last year's presidential election campaign, which was won by centrist Emmanuel Macron.
One of Macron's far-left rivals, Philippe Poutou, is a mechanic at Ford's Blanquefort plant who became a minor celebrity during the election with his angry denunciations of mul-
tinationals and a pledge to oudaw redundancies.
Other past factory closures by American companies such as Goodyear and Caterpillar, part of a wider trend of industrial decline in France, have also led to bitterness and public campaigns.
Bordeaux's mayor, former prime minister Alain Juppe, quit the meeting early with Ford’s employee representatives Monday and angrily denounced the company afterwards as "leadingus on".
Juppe and Le Maire's anger has focused on Ford's reluctance to favour an offer for the site from Punch Powerglide, a manufacturer based in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, which would come with pledges of more state aid.
But the proposal could also require Ford to commit funds for updating the plant.