Almost all the employees of Thermal Ceramics France have taken to the picket line, striking for 3 hours every day. Why? Because despite the fact that the factory is based in France, their new director doesn’t speak a word of French.

This bizarre situation came about when the previous director moved abroad, and the company was unable to find an immediate replacement. The company put an interim director in place to bridge the gap while they recruit someone for the post.

Unfortunately, what may have seemed like a neat temporary solution to the company has caused them some rather large problems.
As one worker put it: “I don’t think it’s up to us to make the effort, we are in France, and we shouldn’t have to speak in English.” The company has assured its workers that the next director will definitely speak French, but unfortunately, the English-speaking director is not the only bone of contention. Amid protracted salary negotiations, the interim director’s inability to speak French has proved to be the needle that broke the camel’s back, and workers are striking. The workers had not previously gone on strike for over two decades, so this shows just how strongly they feel about the issue.

Unfortunately, this situation was completely avoidable. While I sympathise with the company’s need to provide an interim director, they could, and should, have taken measures to ensure that communication was possible. With the technology available today, it is possible to reach an interpreter over the telephone immediately, or via video-conference. I think it is a pity that the company has lost so much valuable time because of this strike, when they could easily have arranged interpreting services.

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