Head honchos held hostage!

Mon Dieu!

French workers have kidnapped their bosses to response to hundreds of proposed layoffs.

I know, I know. You think I’m playing a big April Fools day prank on you, right? Like, you’ll click the link and all of a sudden your computer will be infected with the Conficker.c worm or something.

Not this kind of caterpillar!

Nope. While it’s debatable if I’m evil enough to do such a thing (Magic 8 ball says…ask again later), I am certainly not that tech-savvy.

Anyway, apparently workers in the Caterpillar factory are holding executives hostage because the executives proposed laying off of hundreds of its employees.

Wow. I know how bad the economic situation is across the world, and that millions of people are getting laid off. But this is a little ridiculous.

Look, I know we’ve all had fantasies about kidnapping our bosses. But that doesn’t mean we should actually do it! Jail time is definitely worse than being laid off. (Although, a girl could get used to the three hot meals a day thing. I really need to learn how to cook.)

So, while I feel for the plight of the French workers (people should not be the first resource cut in a recession!), I do not support their methods. There must be much better ways to get executives into negotiations. Right?

Right?

Anyway, what do you think of the whole kidnapping situation? What is the furthest you would go to avoid a layoff? What sort of pranks did you pull on your coworkers today? (My coworkers completely covered a colleague’s desk space, phone, chair, papers, etc. with post-its.)

Jessica Livingston
Managing Editor
jessica.livingston@e-bim.com