Quel Brouhaha! A Diatribe on Unions Irks the French The French work force gets paid high wages but works only three hours. They have one hour for their breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three," Maurice Taylor Jr., the head of American tire maker Titan International, wrote to the French industry minister, declining a government plea to take over a Goodyear factory slated for closing in northern France, Liz Alderman wrote in The New York Times. "His decidedly undiplomatic assessment quickly struck a nerve in France," Ms. Alderman wrote, "where concerns about declining competitiveness and the divisive tax policies have led some economists to ask whether the nation is at risk of becoming the next sick man of Europe." Mr. Taylor said his company would seek to produce cheaper tires in India or China, where he said "Titan would pay the workers less than one euro an hour, and then sell the tires back to the French."