Paris - As stories of the extravagant bonuses of executives vie for headlines with reports of mass layoffs, a poll published Tuesday found that nearly half of all French adults approve of workers holding bosses hostage to press their demands.

In the survey, which was carried out by the CSA institute and published in the daily Le Parisien, 45 per cent of respondents said the tactic was "acceptable."

Unsurprisingly, blue-collar workers were most in favour of the practise, with 56 per cent approval. On the other end of the spectrum, two of three supporters of the right-wing government of President Nicolas Sarkozy were against it.

Since early March, there have been several such incidents in France, with executives at the French branches of Sony, Caterpillar and 3M being held hostage for at least 24 hours by workers seeking better severance packages or trying to prevent a factory closing.

The poll involved a representative sample of 1,012 adults and was carried out on April 1-2. (dpa)