Almost half of French people believe it is acceptable for workers facing layoffs² to lock up their bosses, according to an opinion poll published on Tuesday.

Staff at French plants run by Sony, 3M and Caterpillar³ have held managers inside the factories overnight, in three separate incidents, to demand better layoff¹ terms -- a new form of labor⁴ action dubbed⁵ "bossnapping" by the media.

A poll by the CSA institute for Le Parisien newspaper found 50 percent of French people surveyed disapproved⁶ of such acts, but 45 percent thought they were acceptable.

"They are not in the majority ... but 45 percent is an enormous percentage and it demonstrates the extent of exasperation⁷ among the public at this time of economic crisis," Le Parisien said.

On March 31, billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault was trapped in a taxi in Paris for an hour by staff from his PPR luxury and retail⁸ group who were angry about layoffs. Riot police intervened to free him.

Le Parisien found that 56 percent of blue-collar workers polled approved of bossnappings while 41 percent disapproved. Among white-collar workers, 59 percent were against the practice while 40 percent thought it was acceptable.

"These hostage takings, we know how it starts but no one knows how far it can go," said Xavier Bertrand, a former labor minister now secretary-general of the ruling UMP party.

"Our country must avoid entering a spiral of violence," he said in reaction to the opinion poll, adding that bossnappings "cannot be tolerated."

本周二公布的一项民意调查显示，近一半的法国人认为面临解雇的工人劫持老板的做法是可以接受的。

近日法国发生了三起员工劫持老板的案件，Sony、3M和Caterpillar公司在法国的分厂都发生了员工将管理人员劫持在厂内一个晚上，要求更为丰厚的遣散费的事件。这一新型劳动行为被媒体称为“老板劫持（bossnapping）”。

这项由CSA调查机构为《巴黎人报》开展的民调发现，50%的受访民众不赞成这种行为，45%的人认为可以接受。

《巴黎人报》称：“虽然不是大多数，但45%是一个很高的比率，这表明了民众在经济危机时期愤怒情绪的广泛程度。”

上月31日，亿万富豪、PPR奢侈品和零售集团总裁弗朗西斯-亨利•皮诺特在巴黎的出租车中被因被解雇而愤怒的员工包围一小时，直到防暴警察赶来才获释。

调查发现，在受访的蓝领工人中，56%的人赞成“老板劫持”，41%表示反对；在白领员工中，59%的人反对这种做法，40%的人认为可以接受。

法国前劳工部部长、执政党人民运动联盟现任秘书长泽维尔•伯特兰德说：“关于这些劫持案件，我们知道它们是怎么开始的，但没有人知道会发展到什么地步。”

他回应该民调说：“我们的国家必须避免陷入暴力漩涡”，并称老板劫持“不能宽容”。

Vocabulary:

riot police:防暴警察