Sunday saw workers at the browbeaten French car parts maker New Fabris threatening that if they did not receive payouts - by July 31 from auto groups Renault and Peugeot - to compensate for their lost jobs; they would blow up the factory.  

In the month of April, the New Fabris was put into liquidation; but the workers were not given any redundancy money, even when they were entitled to draw state unemployment benefits.

The workers are demanding that in return for its remaining stocks of equipment and machinery, Renault SA and PSA Peugeot Citroen should pay 30,000 euros ($41,800) for each of the 336 staff-members at the factory; implying an almost 10 million euros amount in total.  

CGT trades union official Guy Eyermann clarified: “The bottles of gas have already been placed at various parts of the factory and are connected with each other. If Renault and PSA refuse to give us that money it could blow up before the end of the month.”  

On Thursday, a meeting was held between a delegation of workers and Renault, but there were neither any comment forthcoming immediately from either of the parties nor could any comments be received from police. The workers are from the New Fabris factory at Chatellerault, near Poitiers in central France.

The company, which is the successor to the 1947-founded Fabris, was later acquired by ZEN of Italy, which is headed by Florindo Garro.