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U.S. CEO Goes Off on France’s Work Ethic in Epic Letter: ‘Lazy’ Union Workers Who Talk Too Much

Feb. 20, 2013 1:49pm Becket Adams

Maurice Taylor Turns Down French Offer to Turn Around Failing Plant, Says French Workers Arent Worth Investing In Because Theyre Too Lazy

Morry “The Grizz” Taylor (Titan)

In a desperate attempt to save 1,173 French jobs at a failing Goodyear tire plant, French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg approached Titan International Inc. Chairman and former Republican presidential hopeful Maurice Taylor to see if the American CEO would be interested in purchasing the factory.

And like most things American, Taylor’s response to Montebourg was blunt and to the point: “Do you think we’re stupid?”

No, really, in a letter published Wednesday by Les Echos, Taylor — whose bearish negotiating style earned him the the nickname “The Grizz” — had nothing but criticism for France’s work ethic.

“I have visited that factory a couple of times. The French workforce gets paid high wages but work only three hours,” the turnaround artist said in a letter dated Feb 8.

“They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three. I told the French union workers to their faces. They told me that’s the French way!” he added.

Goodyear announced in January its intention to shutter the plant after five years of negotiating with the Communist-backed CGT, France’s largest union, failed to produce results.

“Sir, your letter states that you want Titan to start a discussion. How stupid do you think we are? Titan is the one with the money and the talent to produce tires. What does the crazy union have? It has the French government,” Taylor said.

“Titan is going to buy a Chinese tire company or an Indian one, pay less than one Euro per hour wage and ship all the tires France needs,” he added. “You can keep the so-called workers.”

Shortly after Les Echos published the letter, the CGT union responded angrily to the American CEO, saying the “insulting” letter showed Taylor to be more of a “lunatic” than a person suitable “to hold the reins of a multinational,” according to the Financial Times.

Getty Images

It’s worth noting that the CGT fought against the idea of a Titan takeover from day one.

“He says that the union is crazy, the government is sh– and that [President Barack] Obama is a joke and he is going to produce in China . . . What he’s said today is not the way to break into [the European market],” said CGT official Mickaël Wamen.

Here’s Taylor’s complete letter:

Wow. Just wow.

–

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(H/T: IBT). Featured image Getty Images. This post has been updated.

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Comments (77)

gcass
Posted on March 16, 2013 at 8:34pm
He is so right and it’s not just the french. It is the entire UK area. Compared to other nations they do not pull their weight. Notably the irish are the lazyiest bunch in the pack and due to the overly liberal entitlements the government provides, they get paid to raise large families and become mentally and physically complacent at work while the rest of the global economy at multi-nationals have to absorb the work they don’t do. It’s nearly impossible to get a full days work out of them and then with the repeated maternity leaves where they get to take between 1-3 years off each time, it’s a joke. I am stunned that multi-natioanls employ anyone in the UK unless it is critical to serving a client. Then when you try to lay them off for non-performance, it’s nearly impossible. You are stuck with them or you have to be bold enough to cut your losses and pay the redundancy. This is clearly becomming to their detriment though I resent having to carry their productivity on my and my kids backs here in the US.

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calmandclear
Posted on February 21, 2013 at 2:23am
Well, I see there is little sympathy for the hoards of hardworking, uh, excuse me, hoards of intelligent and cultured French workers. I come at this in a slightly different angle as I try to correlate their high rate of unemployment with their equally high rates of legal immigration (250,000 people per year) and illegal immigration (who knows the figure? they have open borders). Now correct if I’m wrong but doesn’t it seem odd that in ten years they have allowed two and a half million people to move into their country and they have no jobs for them. It is political correctness taken to the extreme, you give your country away to foreigners, giving them free housing, food, education and medical care. Basically bankrupting the country, putting an enormous financial burden on the working, productive people in order to support the millions with no skills, no education and no future. No, no sympathy for the stupid French or any of the other European countries that have allowed millions of immigrants to move in and bleed them dry. Think of a country as a lifeboat for eighty people and knowing that more than that number may swamp the boat you still allow dozens more to clamber onboard. Don’t feel too good just yet as we have the same problem in our own country. Too many immigrants, too many people who don’t want to work, too many who expect the government to take care of all their needs. It’ going to end badly for the Europeans and we’re not doing too good ourselves.

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CommonSenseTalk
Posted on February 21, 2013 at 1:18am
The real headline should be, “America not even a choice for Titan to build plant!” You have the government raising min wage and then the Union supported by the government for more money.

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ALL4FREEDOM
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 9:15pm
I LOVE this guy!

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bcrogan
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:13pm
Guess how many hour lunch breaks I ever took at any job I had during or after college? None, I worked everyday and ate lunch at my desk and stayed hours past the days end. I only used 2 days of my full week of vacation at my last job for the 2 years I worked there. The Europeans are disgustingly arrogant, entitled, lazy and unproductive. The French live on this bull crap legacy of fine food, art, and fashion, but guess what, you have no jobs, you produce nothing, you innovate nothing, your country is over run by welfare sucking Muslims, and your millionaires and billionaires are fleeing to hell holes like Russia to save their hard earned money from your’e 75% income tax on the wealthy. Your economy will be left with no one who are born leaders, organizers, and producers. The people left will be moron artists, anarchists, poets, and communists that will riot till no end because you dare make a law making it easier to fire lazy workers. The same goes for Spain, Italy, Greece, Britain and Portugal. The worst of it is that this malarkey lazy entitled attitude has become even stronger here with Obama. Blame job producers and ‘BIG PHARMA” or “BIG OIL” and forget that they manufacture life saving products or exploit natural resources that allow you to make your double mocha frapacino and surf on your Ipad. I swear, the values of the war and depression generation of hard work is totally lost.

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- ALL4FREEDOM
  Posted on February 20, 2013 at 9:17pm
  But it will be found again when we repeat the whole stinking mess again, and soon.
  
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KEELHAULUM
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:13pm
“Proud to be a Union man,…always pay my dues on time but when the benefits come I’m last in line,..” Neil Young

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KEELHAULUM
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:12pm
“Well it’s sundown on the Union and what’s made in the USA, sure was a good idea until greed got in the way,….” Bob Dylan

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KEELHAULUM
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:08pm
All true. I have nothing to add.

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Delphinus13
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:29pm
GOOD!! It says the French are still anticipated to respond. It’ll interesting to see what they could possibly answer with. Mark Steyn once joked the Greek workers work 24/7; 24 hours a week, 7 months a year. Looks like they’re workaholics compared to the French if the comments in this article are accurate.

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dodgedart1966
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 6:42pm
Former Teamster and Union carpenter. Not all union people are lazy, but the job rules make you so.
“Not my job, man” was a favorite saying during my years in a teamsters union shop.
Union carpenters are better carpenters? One day I was a non union carpenter. My boss got a job on a union site. The next day I was a union carpenter.

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- dodgedart1966
  Posted on February 20, 2013 at 6:48pm
  If I needed a tool, I had to call over a union laborer to fetch me the tool, while I waited.
  I was mainly doing foundations on bare ground.
  If I needed to move a rock that I couldn’t kick out of the way, I had to call the same laborer to move it because any work with a shovel was laborer work.
  All on government dollars because it was a public works job. The Big Dig in Boston.
  I’m now self-employed and much happier. I can now work faster and have a half day.
  
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calypsocoral
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 6:28pm
The French, and Europe in general, need to just simply grab their ankles and prostrate themselves before the Muslim influx, who are active participants in the workforce with a genuine work ethic. I think after a few decades of living under Islamic Shariah, maybe, JUST MAYBE, Europe will finally understand what happens when Liberty and Prosperity are taken for granted…

From Prosperity, to Apathy;
From Apathy, to Dependency;
From Dependency, back into Bondage.

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- gcass
  Posted on March 16, 2013 at 8:42pm
  Completely agree with you. Multi-nationals better revisit their hiring strategies where unless you absolutely have to staff in the europe, give the jobs to the nations that have a high degree of character, self discipline and who produce. Europe is becoming a baby facorty that corporations and governments are funding for more production of lazy people. This will not change until multi-nationals hire smarter.
  
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DefyTYRANNY
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 5:45pm
Amen, brother. Tell the truth.

His statements about the French Union workers mirrors any US Union workers I have ever met.

We were forced to use them when our company worked in the Northeast. We did specialized work, which the people they sent had no qualifications for. We used the minimum necessary, and I only would let them do menial tasks. If they complained to much, or said they were equipment operators (Which I would not let them touch) I would tell them they could sit and watch and collect their pay.

Which wasn’t far off from what they intended on doing anyway.

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IKW
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 4:33pm
And what fool would want to “break in” to a market that doesn’t produce anything but bad attitudes?

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Carlinpa
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 3:47pm
Finally someone in the international scene saying it like it is..

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shorelineliz
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 3:41pm
Where is Maurice Taylor now and where can I send the man a basket of mini muffins? Wow! Way to sock it to the lazy A$$ French!

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SocialistSlayer
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 3:13pm
Communist obama should run for president of France – they are a perfect fit for each other !

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PhineasJWhoopee
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 3:10pm
Only Americans that haven’t been to Europe fall for the false assumption that it is more sophisticated
than the US. It is a old, disgusting, tired, rundown, stinking dung pile. No one works so all the plumbing is broke.
Stayed at a 4 star hotel in Rome that would be condemned in the US. I refused to throw a coin in the fountain because they say if you do you will return someday. I’ll never go back.
Same shape the US will be in soon with lazy entitlement Progressives running things.

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ferggie
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 3:03pm
I am a mechanical engineer and had the opertunity to work for a French owned company for several years. Nothing but a bunch of lazy cry babies. Not worht a s#!t and I will never work for another one. The only thing they have going for them is wine and cheese.

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hauschild
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 2:58pm
Dude’s right – I did a number of implementations in Lyon a few years back and the workers are as lazy as the day is long. But, it’s probably mostly due to the government promoting being a “slacker”.

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