Caterpillar company heads and union representatives signed an accord on Sunday to end a dispute over an employee blockade of Caterpillar factories in Grenoble last week, launched in protest at planned layoffs.

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French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde announced the agreement in a communique that said she hoped dialogue would be pursued "in a constructive manner in an atmosphere of restored confidence".

The accord followed nine hours of roundtable discussions mediated by a representative from the Finance Ministry and includes a provision lowering the number of planned layoffs from 733 to 600.

Unionists had also demanded lifting sanctions on employees who participated in a blockade of a Caterpillar factory in Grenoble last Wednesday. On Friday, a Grenoble court ordered 19 workers to allow access to the factory or face a fine of 200 euros each for every day of their occupation.

The workers lifted their blockade Saturday after being promised the roundtable discussions.

Caterpillar, the world's leading manufacturer of construction engines, employed 113,000 people at the end of 2008.