Workers release managers at Scapa plant

By Sophie Taylor

PARIS (Reuters) - French workers on Wednesday released managers they had held overnight at a plant in southern France, the latest example of a boss being taken hostage by angry employees.

Workers stopped four managers leaving the site on Tuesday when talks over the potential closure of the factory near the town of Bellegarde came to a head. The owner is the British company Scapa Group.

The managers were allowed to leave the site after Scapa alerted local police before holding a meeting with employees, Ian Bushell, the firm's European finance director, told Reuters.

"Obviously we are delighted that the restrictions that had been imposed upon them have been lifted. We are in a dialogue with the work council," he said by telephone from Manchester.

He was unaware of any specific demands made by employees. Bushell had said earlier the company did not plan to make any concessions.

Members of the CGT trade union called a strike on Tuesday as negotiations stalled and refused to allow management to leave the site, Bushell said.

Scapa Group, which makes adhesive tapes, in January announced global job cuts and said it was in talks over the possible closure of the plant, which employs 68 people.

The company reported a 34 percent fall in sales in December because of plummeting demand and said at the beginning of this year that 2009 would be challenging.