The Grizz has a change of heart as he embraces the French way
Eight months is a long time in business it seems. Titan International chairman Maurice Taylor, known as “the Grizz” for his gruff manner, is said to be reconsidering his abandoned bid for a French factory that is being closed by US tyre-maker Goodyear.
In July, he was rather frank about his decision not to purchase the tyre plant accusing workers of being lazy and its unions of being “crazy” in an open letter to the French government. “They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three. I told this to the French union workers to their faces. They told me that’s the French way!,” he wrote in February.
But now it seems he’s had a change of heart, and is offering to buy part of the operation – the factory’s tools. Presumably the tools don’t take lunch breaks at all, but apparently the plan would also save 333 out of a total 1,200 jobs.