French Goodyear factory occupation ends

Workers at a Goodyear plant in northern France have agreed to end their occupation of the tyremaking factory, which is due to close at the cost of some 1,000 jobs. Earlier this month two managers were bossnapped as part of the industrial action.

Tyres burn outside the Amiens North Goodyear factory Reuters

A mass meeting at the Goodyear factory in Amiens voted to accept the deal, which will see

higher redundancy payments, and end the occupation.

The agreement was due to be signed on Wednesday afternoon.

Workers took over the factory on 7 January and held two managers captive for two days in an attempt to force the company to talk on unions' terms.

Gooodyear announced its plan to close the factory, which employs 1,170 people, in January 2013.