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Air France violence suspects identified

Twenty people suspected of being involved in the violence that occurred at Air France headquarters on Monday where two senior company officials were beaten, have been identified.

Air France's director of human resources Xavier Broseta had to escape over a fence after getting attacked by striking workers on Monday.
Air France's director of human resources Xavier Broseta had to escape over a fence after getting attacked by striking workers on Monday. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
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According to the radio station RTL, an internal investigation launched by Air France had resulted in the identification of the suspects which includes those three people who were directly involved in the events at Roissy near Paris.

Meanwhile, speaking to RTL, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said that justice will be dealt with the greatest severity against those who attacked senior Air France executives Xavier Broseta and Pierre Plissonnier.

Valls added that the government supports the management of Air France and expressed confidence about the resumption of dialogue in the company. “We need reforms, I believe that employees are ready for these reforms provided that there is a social dialogue and that the pilots take full responsibility,” he said.

Following the failure of talks with the cabin crew, the management announced a 2,900 job cuts and the withdrawal of 14 aircraft in its long haul fleet by 2017.

Instead, the company has proposed job cuts, believed to involve 300 pilots, 900 air hostesses and stewards, and 1,700 ground staff.
On Tuesday, the management denied a report in the Canard Enchaine weekly that the airline was also planning a further 5,000 job cuts after 2017.

French President Francois Hollande too criticised the violence and said that the scenes of Air France executives fleeing an angry mob after having their shirts ripped off by striking workers were unacceptable and put the country's image at risk.

Broseta, the airline's human resources director, had to escape over a fence with the help of security guards on Monday after announcing plans to cut 2,900 jobs.

Photographs of a bare-chested Broseta were splashed across the front pages and websites of newspapers across the world.

On Tuesday night, Hollande said that social dialogue matters but when it's interrupted by violence, and disputes take on an unacceptable form, it can have consequences for the image and attractiveness of the country.

Seven people were hurt, including a security guard who was knocked unconscious and required hospital treatment.

 

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