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In June 1982 an exceptionally intense conflict broke out in the Talbot car factory at Poissy. It was part of a vast movement affecting skilled workers in this branch. At both Talbot and Citroën, this movement took place after François Mitterrand’s arrival in power that brought more democracy to industrial relations. Then the stakes moved towards questions of industrial crisis and job protection. Through a second clash that culminated in the 1983-4 winter, the Talbot conflicts reached the factory and its powerful PSA parent company as well as the union authorities. They forced the left government to extend its economic aggiornamento to jobs while it modified its language concerning immigrant workers. Under its leadership, the Talbot conflict concretized the passage of France from the last gasps of expansion to the painful redeployment of the years of rigor.