Father of four sets himself on fire at France Telecom

A father-of four working for France Telecom-Orange died on Tuesday after setting himself on fire at work, management and unions said. The death is the latest in a series of suicides at the company.

AFP

The 57-year-old set himself alight in a car park at France Telecom premises near Bordeaux in south-west France, a management source said.

Trade unions called the death “a tragedy".

More than 30 reported suicides in 2008 and 2009 sparked alarm at the company, which operates France's national telephone service, employs 100,000 people and runs the major mobile provider Orange.

A union inquiry to monitor stress at work said there were 27 suicides in the company in 2010 and one other so far in 2011.

The man who died on Tuesday was a married father of four and a member of the CFDT union who monitored working conditions and health and safety, several union sources said. He was not named.

A local official of the CFE-CGC/Unsa union, François Deschamps, said the man had been with the company for 30 years and had suffered recently from being moved repeatedly from one post to another in the company.

He said employees suffered major disruption from the shake-up with many obliged to sell their houses or separate from their families.