'Alcatel-Lucent unions call for one-day strike across Europe'

Alcatel-Lucent's unions have called for the company's workers across Europe to strike on 10 November to protest job cuts. "Europe can and must react to avoid that in 10 years networks are designed, manufactured, installed and operated by non-European companies. There is a real risk of a loss of independence", according a union statement cited by AFP. The industrial action is aimed at management and governments. Alcatel-Lucent currently has 26,000 employees in Europe, down from 30,000 at the end of 2006. Workers representatives fear that three restructuring plans announced since the end of last year threaten over 4,000 more job cuts through redundancies or outsourcing. Demonstrations are being planned in France, Germany, Italy and Romania for 10 November. In France, the CFDT union has called for staff to demonstrate in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, telecommunications regulator Arcep in Paris and the company's plant in Rennes.

Distributed for DMeurope.com via M2 Communications (www.m2.com)

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