SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS

Only 2 percent of the Bosch Corp.'s 820 workers refused to amend their contracts to work 36 hours instead of the legal maximum of 35, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

Bosch said the plan will reduce costs by 12 percent and allow it to invest in a new diesel-injection system at Venissieux, where labor costs are 40 percent lower, rather than in the Czech Republic. The move will save 190 of 300 jobs Bosch had planned to eliminate by 2008.

The Times said the vote appeared to be a setback for French President Jacques Chirac, who is trying to stop companies from giving workers a choice between give-backs or unemployment.

He has warned companies asking employees to vote for longer working hours -- or seeking relocation to countries where labor costs are lower -- are placing France on a "slippery slope."