Champagne makers go on strike
Employees at France's Piper-Heidsieck champagne maker have called an indefinite strike, in protest at plans to cut a quarter of the house's work force. Around 80 employees have been blocking the production site in Reims since midnight on Friday.
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The protest centres on a restructuring programme first drafted last February, in which management proposed getting rid of 45 of Piper-Heidsieck's 160 employees.
After fierce opposition, managers revised the plan to include just 39 redundancies.
But unions say that the compromise will be paid for by imposing a salary freeze on remaining employees.
Piper-Heidsieck denies that it is still considering a salary freeze, and says that employees will be compensated with a profits-related bonus scheme.
The restructuring measures are essential for "the survival of a company that hopes to break even this year", said company president Anne-Charlotte Amory.
Piper-Heidseick has seen its turnover plummet by 42 per cent since March 2009, as the economic crisis takes its toll on the luxury drinks market.
Champagne consumption has declined as people increasingly turn to cheaper sparkling wines in a bid to save money.
The strike comes in the first week of the grape-picking season in France's Champagne region, which opened in Reims on 13 October.
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