CGT union calls on Air France staff to protest at Bobigny courthouse

France’s Confederation Generale du Travail – the country's oldest and most powerful union – has called on Air France workers to stage a protest at the Bobigny courthouse on the 27th and 28th September following the dismissal of a CGT delegate said to have been involved in the “shirt-ripping” incident.

Last October, the airline’s human resources director and another executive were forced to flee a meeting about planned job cuts at the Air France headquarters in Roissy as angry employees ripped their shirts.

Images emerged of HR chief Xavier Broseta scaling a fence topless after being chased out of a meeting about restructuring proposals, while another executive, Pierre Plissonnier, also had his shirt and jacket ripped.

On Wednesday, the CGT called on Air France staff to protest against the sacking of its delegate.

CGT chief Philippe Martinez, who joined the company ten years ago, is among the five employees due to stand trial in September. They face up to three years in prison and a €45,000 fine for violence towards executives and security guards at the Air France headquarters.

Martinez, who is spearheading the opposition to the French government’s labour market reforms, is accused of having shoved an enforcement officer during the October protest.