U.S. CEO Defends Criticism of French Workers Maurice Taylor, CEO of Titan International Inc., made headlines when he declined to invest in a struggling French factory because its "so-called workers" get high wages for working three-hour days. Today he defended his statement but questioned why the French government would release his remarks in the first place. Taylor, chairman and chief executive of tire company Titan, based in Quincy, Ill., wrote a letter to French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg, declining to buy a Goodyear tire factory that is being closed in Amiens, France. "They're very sensitive - the people in government in France," Taylor told ABC News today. Maybe they should not wear briefs and use boxer shorts instead. Taylor questions why Montebourg released Taylor's letter that was in response to a query about the factory in Amiens. Politicians do things for political gain. He was hoping I would be the bad, bad American and it's the French who stand up," Taylor said. "He forgot or didn't check that we've had a factory in France for years," Taylor said. The French workers there do a great job. The problem they have is that Goodyear plant. Taylor said when he met with the union leaders, he told them he would not cut their wages but expected them to work six hours with a one-hour lunch and break. I don't cut wages, but I take over. I'm a plant guy. We're $2.5 billion company and we're growing. Even Michelin's wheel business, we own it. When everybody else fails, we step in and build it. We empower our employees. That's what we do," Taylor said. "The workers of Goodyear would have considered themselves insulted had the author of the letter been someone credible," the General Confederation of Labor, or, CGT union, said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg yesterday.