Keep It Open...Or Else!

You've got to hand it to the French. When it comes to American companies they have no problems resorting to extortion to force them to make decisions that may not be in the best interest of the companies involved.

A French minister on Wednesday threatened to ask French automakers to blacklist an American electronics company if managers don't find a way to keep its French plant open.

Industry Minister Christian Estrosi has been trying to broker a deal with executives of Illinois-based Molex Inc., an electronic components maker. The company temporarily shut down its plant in southern France on Aug. 5 after charging that workers angry about the planned closure of the plant had injured an American manager and two security guards.

Unless Molex is willing to keep the plant open or to sell the plant to French interests, Estrosi is planning on instructing French automakers to “immediately suspend all orders for material including products made by the Molex group.”

In the US such an act might be considered a violation of RICO statutes, leaving the Minister open to corruption and racketeering charges.