Non! Vive la Corse!!
Although given the fact that the south east and Fos port are affected it won't be long before Corsica is affected.
I'm not quite sure how the miners held the whole country to ransom. Thatcher in my opinion fomented the strike knowing full well that the power stations had immense stocks of coal and that Arthur Scargill didn't have the whole hearted support of all miners. Still in Tory fairy tale world the country was at the mercy of wicked Reds intent on setting up a Soviet in places like Grimethorpe.
It's so helpful to young people that it has brought them out on the streets to protest against it. Funny old world. It's a bit like zero hours contracts being so "helpful" to workers in the UK. Quote from typical British worker "Oh yes its so helpful. I love having to ring up the day before to see if I'm wanted in work. Great to look forward to another duvet day. My grandad was a docker and he says the same. Just loved turning up at the dock gates to see if he could work." I don't suppose I could expect to see much sympathy or understanding from the average SFN expat.
Not sure if I am an average SFN expat...but I see (and agree) where you are coming from David.
While i agree that better provision should be made regarding medical problems etc, in the event of a strike. I cannot see what many of us are bleating about. I live in the middle of a massive forest. Yes it's inconvenient, but how long will it really last ? We have become far to used to everything being on tap, when and where we want it. Do we really not care, if the rights of workers in a country that we call home, are eroded to the point where they don't know if they actually have work, or how long their working week will be. Where they will have to continue to work, to a point where they will probably not have any real retirement. Personaly i hope they succeed. I don't want the French to end up in the same position as the British. The French stand up for themselves at every opportunity, and we complain about a little inconvenience. Yet the British roll over every time, and accept everything that's thrown at us by the British political establishment, and we complain about it but actually do precisely nothing. It's why Britain is in the state it is in. We've forgotten how to stand up for ourselves, and become a nation of whinging wimps with no fight in us. I suspect that is exactly why many of us live here. A little planning, and neighbourly assistance, goes a very long way in these situations. Maybe i'm just lucky that our little community is exactly that. A commuinity, of mainly French people, and a very small number of English, Dutch and Belgians, that pull together.
Talk to any small business owner and most are in favour of the changes and anti-strikes. They are the ones who are actually having to deal with employees rights ( and I'm not talking about zero hours contracts here, I'm talking about people who row with their manager and then get signed off 'sick' for 6 months) and inflexible employment laws. And the self-employed are the ones who are going to be hit first, starting with increased fuel prices. I paid 1.48 a litre yesterday at a supermarket. Grr.
Stephen Mann - a very thoughtful and well written piece that in my mind sums up the situation perfectly. My husband, a qualified, professional stonemason of 20 years came home from a new job in the UK one day - he'd been allowed 10 minutes break in the morning and 20 minutes at lunch. A whistle blew to signify the start of the break - he had to call me, go to the loo, eat his lunch and be back, tools in hand ready to go after 19minutes and 59 seconds, or his pay would be docked...
Thank you Florian
Well written, Peter. Such is the foolishness of CGT that they could severely damage the French economy a( and consequently the jobs of their own members) fighting against something which is not just reasonable, but inevitable. The sooner the CGT members wake up and get rid of Martinez, the better for all of us and all of France (and indeed, the EU).
... except that there is no comparison with zero hours (which is appalling) or casual dock labour ( which still exists, everywhere).
Well said Marayah, we live in the val d'oise, north of Paris, and i have a major operation the 1 june, so I have got in touch with the taxi 'conventionnée' this am, to be sur i will have my taxi the 31 may.
I don't think every French worker behaves in the way you have described. If it is true, then it is a staggering achievement to think that France has the sixth largest economy in the world, and despite workers being so lazy, bellingerant, and so badly organised, that both you, I, and millions of others choose to make it our home. Strange that.
I work with a LOT of French companies and what goes on never fails to astound me. If I had time I'd write a long post about it but as I'm self employed and need to get back to work, you're just going to have to trust me! Have a lovely day everyone and here's hoping you find fuel!
http://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2016/03/07/le-oui-mais-des-chefs-d-entreprise-a-la-loi-el-khomri_4877872_3234.html
Seems business owners agree with a lot of what's in the new law but they don't see it as a panacea, as said in the Le Monde article businesses will take on new staff if the economy gets stronger and if it doesn't they won't. What it says in the employment contract is irrelevant if you can't afford to employ people, and this law will do nothing to improve the economy.
But as I think someone said earlier, the central issue is the fact that the goverment has imposed a law that the vast majority of the French (70 per cent is often cited) do not find acceptable. That's a dangerous precedent to set and a principle worth defending. Sometimes you have to see the bigger picture and put the common good ahead of your own immediate wants. What's worse, a few months of inconvenience now, or a future where the government can bring in any unpopular law it wants?
are you able to provide 1 example of how an employee is abusing current regulations and how forcing them to work irregular hours, say 24 one week and 46 the next, whilst paying them less will help to improve the situation?
Yes another triumph for the Thatcher government. The recasualisation of Dock labour in 1989 with the abolition of the Dock Labour Board.
David, why is it then that so many young people leave France to further their careers or just to find work? It is because the employment laws are so restrictive and social charges are so high. If each restaurant could afford to employ another waiter, chef, etc. there would not be so many working in London.
Josephine, if you really think a few months of inconvenience are worth it, then think again about what will happen to the tourist industry. Large towns are already hit by the threat of terrorism and the thought of not being able to find enough fuel to get back to your own country in time to go to work, will absolutely kill rural tourism as well. Tourism employs a large percentage of the population , who will suffer because they will not have work at all.
There is diesel and petrol, but not 95% at Super U at St.Bonnet-de-Joux in 71. No queues.
In a way I envy the French. Their unions still have power while UK ones have little. When Commercial Union/General Accident was taken over by, sorry, merged with Norwich Union, and the entire IT department was offered redundancy, we joined the union which already represented the Norwich staff. They were so occupied with their own merger with another union that they were less than useless and couldn't have done much anyway, particularly when our jobs were outsourced to India. Elder son has worked in the same premises, supporting the same customers using the same equipment for 16 years, but has so far had 6 employers, being TUPEed each time and losing out on travel expenses, pension scheme, medical insurance, company car, mileage allowance and overtime at every change. He now works for an Indian company which doesn't respect UK employment law, let alone employees, threatens them all the time and thinks 3 weeks hols per year is wildly excessive. Following surgery for a seriously detached retina he fears he will lose his job as this requires several weeks careful rest at home to save his sight, which the Indians won't like at all. Would French unions put up with this? I've never been keen on UK unions, but now I think we need them before things go back to the Industrial Revolution and the exploitation by the mill owners - most of whom live thousands of miles away from the UK.