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French Strike Is a Referendum on Sarkozy, Unions
President's Agenda
Threatens Pensions
Of Transit Workers
By DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS
November 21, 2007; Page A9
50-55 for retirement though? I thought 62 was early here.
President's Agenda
Threatens Pensions
Of Transit Workers
By DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS
November 21, 2007; Page A9
Originally Posted by :
PARIS -- As France's national transit strike enters its eighth day, the standoff is shaping up as a contest over whom French people detest more: their new president or the entrenched labor unions that have ground the country to a near halt.
Railway, bus and metro workers are protesting a government plan to curtail special pension benefits that allow them to retire at ages from 50 to 55 rather than the minimum cutoff of 60 that applies to most other French people. Although some workers have resumed duties, key train and metro lines weren't running yesterday.
As people stayed home or walked, drove or cycled to work, and as the strikes were expected to last several more days, President Nicolas Sarkozy said he wouldn't back down.
"France needs reforms to meet the challenges imposed on it by the world," he said in a televised address to a group of French mayors. To sweeten the medicine, Mr. Sarkozy promised a series of measures centered on "spending power, economic growth and work."
Analysts said Mr. Sarkozy may propose cuts in labor taxes to boost the dented morale of consumers. "He is playing public opinion against the transport workers who prevent the population from going to work," said Maryse Pogodzinski, an economist with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
Both sides are at a crossroad. For Mr. Sarkozy, whose plans for sweeping economic changes look less palatable than originally thought, winning the transit-strike tussle is crucial to making progress on the rest of his economic agenda. Mr. Sarkozy, won office in May with a promise he would jolt France's sluggish economy into action through tax cuts, changes in labor law and other measures aimed at making companies more competitive. He has the political legitimacy to push for the changes; he won the vote with a clear lead, and his ruling UMP party holds a strong majority in Parliament.
So far, tax cuts and other noneconomic bills Mr. Sarkozy has pushed through Parliament haven't raised much opposition among the population. Yet the proposed pension change is a litmus test for Mr. Sarkozy because, for the first time, he is hoping to extract concessions from a specific category of workers. When Mr. Sarkozy's immediate predecessor, Jacques Chirac, sought the same pension change in 1995, unions paralyzed the country for three weeks and Mr. Chirac backed down.
For the unions, this strike is part of a quest for survival. State-run transport operators that handle the rail, bus and metro systems across the country represent centers of power for the Confédération Générale du Travail union, or CGT, and other national, multisector labor unions. If unions back down on these pension changes, officials say, their clout with Mr. Sarkozy's administration could be compromised.
"We cannot give in easily because, otherwise, Mr. Sarkozy will have a free hand to do what he wants," Alain Guinot, a national delegate with the CGT, said in a recent interview.
Union officials also say that while their top brass might be interested in a compromise with Mr. Sarkozy, their workers are pushing them to stick to their hard-line approach.
Faced with chronic deficits of the nationwide pension system, the government would like to increase workers' retirement age, which currently stands at 60 for people who have worked 40 years. Before going ahead with its plans, however, the government wants to bring all the special retirement plans in line with the general 60-year-old retirement-age system. Railway workers, for example, would no longer be allowed to retire at 55.
The so-called special pension regimes of transport workers date to the middle of the 19th century, when train companies were struggling to lure skilled workers for their new business of driving steam locomotives. Other workers who have lower retirement ages for pension benefits include soldiers, coal miners and land-registry clerks.
Ballerinas can retire as early as 40, thanks to a legacy of perks granted by Louis XIV to members of his Academy of Dance in 1698. Performers and staff of the Paris Opera are among the workers who have been striking over the past week, forcing cancellations of several performances. Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" in Paris was expected to take place last night with no set.
Interesting. I'm waiting to see if Sarkozy or the rail workers fold.PARIS -- As France's national transit strike enters its eighth day, the standoff is shaping up as a contest over whom French people detest more: their new president or the entrenched labor unions that have ground the country to a near halt.
Railway, bus and metro workers are protesting a government plan to curtail special pension benefits that allow them to retire at ages from 50 to 55 rather than the minimum cutoff of 60 that applies to most other French people. Although some workers have resumed duties, key train and metro lines weren't running yesterday.
As people stayed home or walked, drove or cycled to work, and as the strikes were expected to last several more days, President Nicolas Sarkozy said he wouldn't back down.
"France needs reforms to meet the challenges imposed on it by the world," he said in a televised address to a group of French mayors. To sweeten the medicine, Mr. Sarkozy promised a series of measures centered on "spending power, economic growth and work."
Analysts said Mr. Sarkozy may propose cuts in labor taxes to boost the dented morale of consumers. "He is playing public opinion against the transport workers who prevent the population from going to work," said Maryse Pogodzinski, an economist with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
Both sides are at a crossroad. For Mr. Sarkozy, whose plans for sweeping economic changes look less palatable than originally thought, winning the transit-strike tussle is crucial to making progress on the rest of his economic agenda. Mr. Sarkozy, won office in May with a promise he would jolt France's sluggish economy into action through tax cuts, changes in labor law and other measures aimed at making companies more competitive. He has the political legitimacy to push for the changes; he won the vote with a clear lead, and his ruling UMP party holds a strong majority in Parliament.
So far, tax cuts and other noneconomic bills Mr. Sarkozy has pushed through Parliament haven't raised much opposition among the population. Yet the proposed pension change is a litmus test for Mr. Sarkozy because, for the first time, he is hoping to extract concessions from a specific category of workers. When Mr. Sarkozy's immediate predecessor, Jacques Chirac, sought the same pension change in 1995, unions paralyzed the country for three weeks and Mr. Chirac backed down.
For the unions, this strike is part of a quest for survival. State-run transport operators that handle the rail, bus and metro systems across the country represent centers of power for the Confédération Générale du Travail union, or CGT, and other national, multisector labor unions. If unions back down on these pension changes, officials say, their clout with Mr. Sarkozy's administration could be compromised.
"We cannot give in easily because, otherwise, Mr. Sarkozy will have a free hand to do what he wants," Alain Guinot, a national delegate with the CGT, said in a recent interview.
Union officials also say that while their top brass might be interested in a compromise with Mr. Sarkozy, their workers are pushing them to stick to their hard-line approach.
Faced with chronic deficits of the nationwide pension system, the government would like to increase workers' retirement age, which currently stands at 60 for people who have worked 40 years. Before going ahead with its plans, however, the government wants to bring all the special retirement plans in line with the general 60-year-old retirement-age system. Railway workers, for example, would no longer be allowed to retire at 55.
The so-called special pension regimes of transport workers date to the middle of the 19th century, when train companies were struggling to lure skilled workers for their new business of driving steam locomotives. Other workers who have lower retirement ages for pension benefits include soldiers, coal miners and land-registry clerks.
Ballerinas can retire as early as 40, thanks to a legacy of perks granted by Louis XIV to members of his Academy of Dance in 1698. Performers and staff of the Paris Opera are among the workers who have been striking over the past week, forcing cancellations of several performances. Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" in Paris was expected to take place last night with no set.
50-55 for retirement though? I thought 62 was early here.
I fully support the unions, except on a few cases; the retirement issue being one.
The other stuff I fully support. I think a compromise is in order.
The other stuff I fully support. I think a compromise is in order.
Economy is the upward pressure that make pink clouds float, retirement issue is just unfair to ask basta, why would they have the right to retire earlier then others.... it's about time that the unions stop blackmailing the state. Not against unions per se but in France they are too powerfull, about time someone flips the turtle over and goes for the belly, public opinion.
Originally Posted by Fragony:
why would they have the right to retire earlier then others....
Because if they didn't, they wouldn't be able to recruit anyone into the profession?why would they have the right to retire earlier then others....
Capitalism at it's rawest. It's not about fairness, it's about profits, supply and demand
open up a can of poles if you can't find people, have a nice starvation 
Originally Posted by Fragony:
why would they have the right to retire earlier then others....
why would they have the right to retire earlier then others....
...well somehow because those workers pay more taxes every month in order to retire earlier... i don't fully agree with unions, but that's an issue important enough to go negociating. And that's the government who refuses to negociate.
Originally Posted by Tristuskhan:
...well somehow because those workers pay more taxes every month in order to retire earlier... i don't fully agree with unions, but that's an issue important enough to go negociating. And that's the government who refuses to negociate.
I thought people paid taxes for those who have already retired, in addition to saving to supplement their own retirement allowance?...well somehow because those workers pay more taxes every month in order to retire earlier... i don't fully agree with unions, but that's an issue important enough to go negociating. And that's the government who refuses to negociate.
Originally Posted by Geoffrey S:
I thought people paid taxes for those who have already retired, in addition to saving to supplement their own retirement allowance?
Didn't that depend on the system?I thought people paid taxes for those who have already retired, in addition to saving to supplement their own retirement allowance?
Originally Posted by Tristuskhan:
...well somehow because those workers pay more taxes every month in order to retire earlier...
Thought it went into an optional private trust my bad....well somehow because those workers pay more taxes every month in order to retire earlier...
I hope Sarko doesn't budge an inch. I re-read the French election election thread from this spring, for interests sake. My opinions haven't changed a bit since then:
It is all or nothing. Sarko wins all or loses all, right now. I may not necessarily want him for president for five years, but I fully support his shock therapy and endless provocations. Please give me two years of him, a good shake-up.
Sarko has his faults - he is, for example, a psychotic maniac with a father-killing syndrome - but he clearly laid out his plans and is going for them.
What I like about him, is both this clarity AND his egomaniac mind. France doesn't move by slowly evolving. Everything stays the same, until there is a major revolution, and then everything changes at once.
There is no revolution coming from below, none in the making either. So it must come from the top. That is why having a depraved egomaniac psycho for president is the only option. Who else could pull it off?
Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat, May 8th:
The real contest between Sarkozy and his opposers will be fought in the autumn, between him and the unions. Now that's going to be interesting...
The real contest between Sarkozy and his opposers will be fought in the autumn, between him and the unions. Now that's going to be interesting...
Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat, May 6th:
Labour unions and strikes: Sarkozy.
While Royal wants to talk and talk and talk with the 'partenaires sociaux', Sarkozy might ensure I can finally catch a train for two days in a row...
This is about more than pensions. The credibility of Sarkozy's presidency is at stake. He set out with a program of reform, and was elected because of it. So did Chirac in 1995, but he lost to the streets. I hope Sarko wins.Labour unions and strikes: Sarkozy.
While Royal wants to talk and talk and talk with the 'partenaires sociaux', Sarkozy might ensure I can finally catch a train for two days in a row...
It is all or nothing. Sarko wins all or loses all, right now. I may not necessarily want him for president for five years, but I fully support his shock therapy and endless provocations. Please give me two years of him, a good shake-up.
Sarko has his faults - he is, for example, a psychotic maniac with a father-killing syndrome - but he clearly laid out his plans and is going for them.
What I like about him, is both this clarity AND his egomaniac mind. France doesn't move by slowly evolving. Everything stays the same, until there is a major revolution, and then everything changes at once.
There is no revolution coming from below, none in the making either. So it must come from the top. That is why having a depraved egomaniac psycho for president is the only option. Who else could pull it off?
The more often I re-read Louis' post, the more Sarkozy seems comparable to Bush.
I do think that the unions seem to be too powerful and think they can force their will on others. Besides, retiring that early is ridiculous IMO unless there is a very good reason behind it, and even then, only on a by case basis.
I do think that the unions seem to be too powerful and think they can force their will on others. Besides, retiring that early is ridiculous IMO unless there is a very good reason behind it, and even then, only on a by case basis.
I agree with Louis: France needs change, and the only way I see that happening is for Sarkozy to beat the unions. I'm not against unions in principle, but in this case their conservatism has been doing more harm than good for rather too long.
Originally Posted by :
Besides, retiring that early is ridiculous IMO
Why ?Besides, retiring that early is ridiculous IMO
I think being able to retire at 55 is great, but you shouldn't be able to do it at the taxpayer's expense.
Originally Posted by Geoffrey S:
I agree with Louis: France needs change, and the only way I see that happening is for Sarkozy to beat the unions. I'm not against unions in principle, but in this case their conservatism has been doing more harm than good for rather too long.
Well there goes my early retirement from this thread...I agree with Louis: France needs change, and the only way I see that happening is for Sarkozy to beat the unions. I'm not against unions in principle, but in this case their conservatism has been doing more harm than good for rather too long.
I agree with Louis also, but I have to say it's not only France, all of EUROPE needs change. It's lagging and dragging.
I flew into Frankfurt after spending 3 months in Asia & the Middle East. Honestly when I looked out of the window at Frankfurt I felt like I was landing in a village (bit of an exageration but I hope you know what I mean).
Originally Posted by Sinan:
I flew into Frankfurt after spending 3 months in Asia & the Middle East. Honestly when I looked out of the window at Frankfurt I felt like I was landing in a village (bit of an exageration but I hope you know what I mean).
I know very well what you mean, it's not really a village but in comparison with cities in other countries our cities here are rather small. But then one might say it's a matter of taste, Germany is the world's leading export nation AFAIK, hard to achieve with a bunch of villages. Doesn't mean everything's alright here or that everyone would like it here, I'm thinking of emigrating myself but in comparison to say, Angola, I'd say we're doing quite fine. I flew into Frankfurt after spending 3 months in Asia & the Middle East. Honestly when I looked out of the window at Frankfurt I felt like I was landing in a village (bit of an exageration but I hope you know what I mean).
Originally Posted by FactionHeir:
The more often I re-read Louis' post, the more Sarkozy seems comparable to Bush.
Disagree -- Sarkozy has not demonstrated the total lack of competence our President demonstrates daily. I think Thatcher is a much more accurate comparison.The more often I re-read Louis' post, the more Sarkozy seems comparable to Bush.
Originally Posted by Lemur:
I think Thatcher is a much more accurate comparison.
Thatcher would be the best comparison, yes.I think Thatcher is a much more accurate comparison.
But I don't think Sarkozy will go as far as Thatcher. He doesn't need to either. France 2007 is not in as dire a position as Britain in 1981. France was booming in the 80's.
What we missed was the transition to modern social-democracy that so many other nations made in the 90's, like Scandinavia or the Netherlands. Or even like Blair and Clinton made in a more Anglosaxon context.
Originally Posted by Mikeus Caesar:
Why is it that whenever France gets in the news it's always about either A: Massive strikes or B: rioting, or C: a mixture of the two?
Why is it that whenever I hear of major developments in other countries the people involved stay at home and watch it on the television?Why is it that whenever France gets in the news it's always about either A: Massive strikes or B: rioting, or C: a mixture of the two?
Critical debate for a national sport + fiery temperament means France is ultimately ruled on the streets, with the governments in a perennial state of fear of the citizens.
Since there is also a tendency to elect corrupt, scheming and authoritarian leaders, it makes for an interesting democracy. Call the whole thing a system of 'checks and balances'.
But for other news, try for example today's development:
Originally Posted by :
Chirac formally probed over scam
French ex-President Chirac has been questioned for more than three hours over alleged embezzlement of public funds as Paris mayor, his lawyer says.
The case relates to a scheme whereby rightist sympathisers were allegedly given jobs by Paris city hall.
Last summer, Jacques Chirac was questioned by another judge over allegations in the same case.
He has consistently denied any wrongdoing while he was mayor of the capital between 1977 and 1995.
He lost immunity from investigation after he left the presidency in May.
It could be the first time in modern French history that a former president faces criminal charges.
Chirac formally probed over scam
French ex-President Chirac has been questioned for more than three hours over alleged embezzlement of public funds as Paris mayor, his lawyer says.
The case relates to a scheme whereby rightist sympathisers were allegedly given jobs by Paris city hall.
Last summer, Jacques Chirac was questioned by another judge over allegations in the same case.
He has consistently denied any wrongdoing while he was mayor of the capital between 1977 and 1995.
He lost immunity from investigation after he left the presidency in May.
It could be the first time in modern French history that a former president faces criminal charges.
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