(FILES) - A file picture taken on February 7, 2013 shows workers leaving the US tyre manufacturer Goodyear's plant on February 7, 2013 in Amiens, northern France. The head of US tyremaker Titan has mocked French workers for putting in only "three hours" a day and said his company would be "stupid" to take over a troubled French factory. The letter from Titan CEO Maurice Taylor to French Industrial Renewal Minister Arnaud Montebourg was in response to a request for Titan to consider investing in a loss-making Goodyear plant in Amiens, northern France. AFP PHOTO PHILIPPE HUGUEN
After their three-hour day, the 'so-called' workers leave a tyre factory in northern France. Photo: PHILIPPE HUGUEN
Montebourg's furious response:
"Can I remind you that Titan, the business you run, is 20 times smaller than Michelin, the French [tyre] technology leader with international influence, and 35 times less profitable," Mr Montebourg wrote, in a two-page letter in French.
"This just shows the extent to which Titan could have learned and gained, enormously, from a presence in France."
"Your extremist insults display a perfect ignorance of what our country is about," the minister said.
"Be assured that you can count on me to inspect your tyre imports with a redoubled zeal," he added.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/us-boss-to-france-keep-your-socalled-workers-20130221-2esgn.html#ixzz2LW93vPpS