Shirt-ripping Air France workers tear up another executive

For a brief moment these past weeks, it appeared that France’s once-mighty unions had lost their clout. Rail workers, once synonymous with crippling strikes, staged a walkout that went largely unnoticed as travellers shrugged, turning to buses and ride-sharing instead. But over at Air France, that well-oiled worker conflict played out in a decidedly more retro fashion. Late Friday, a visibly shaken CE Jean-Marc Janaillac threw in the towel, resigning from a post he held for less than 2 years after failing to win backing from employees for his pay proposals. Calling the labour conflict a “huge waste,” the CE said the only beneficiaries are rivals that have managed to move beyond the endless cycle of strikes that have dominated the European aviation industry in recent years. <br/>