Walter Butler, an American famous in France for his short-term mergers and acquisitions, has taken a key role in the dispute over the privitization of a French state-owned ferry line. As a response to possible privitization, the company's employees in Marseille are striking to protest the possible job losses, and employees in Corsica hijacked a ferry last week. Mr. Butler's reputation as a turnaround artist fuels labor mistrust, and union leaders regularly call him a "financial adventurer."
See "An American Investor Rides the Merger Wave in France, to Labor's Chagrin", John Tagliabue, The New York Times, October 6, 2005