Journalists at LVMH's French daily Les Echos call strike, say independence under threat

PARIS (Reuters) - Journalists at LVMH's French business daily Les Echos have called for a strike on Friday, in the latest flare-up of tensions that have been running high since the abrupt dismissal of the publication's editor-in-chief in March.

"Independence is not a luxury," Societe des Journalists, the journalist representative body, said in a statement on Thursday, calling for discussions with Pierre Louette, CEO of Groupe Les Echos-Le Parisien, LVMH's media arm.

Journalists said their independence was under threat and that they wouldn't be able to exercise a right to veto editor-in-chief candidates after management submitted a list of eligible voters that extended beyond the newsroom and included non-journalists.

Les Echos has a staff of 240 on its editorial teams, according to the LVMH website.

"Strikes are never a good solution," said Louette. He said management would not change the agreement related to the election procedure before the vote, which he said was "perfectly known by all."

The sudden dismissal of Les Echos editor-in-chief Nicolas Barre in March prompted "stupefaction" among journalists, they said, and journalists accused management of chipping away at an independence agreement drafted in 2007, when LVMH purchased the newspaper.

(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer; Editing by Leslie Adler)