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(AP) - PICKET LINES: More than a thousand French Alcatel-Lucent workers marched to the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday, staging a mock funeral that the CEO warned could easily become a reality for the telecommunications company.
BEHIND THE ANGER: The employees were protesting Alcatel-Lucent's plans to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide and save 1 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in costs.
POINTING FINGERS: CEO Michel Combes blamed the cuts on bad decision-making since the 2006 merger of France's Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent Technologies, such as abandoning high-growth countries, a lack of innovation and a failure to make the leap to new cell technology, such as 3G.
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