Post by ronturner on Sept 24, 2010 10:54:30 GMT 1
I have very mixed feelings about the current round of strikes in France. Being a right winger, my inclination is to always condemn these things. This is especially so in this case because the majority of the strikers are the "functionaires" who make life so difficult for the rest of us here, and yet are paid by us taxpayers out of the public purse, and the other reason is that French workers in general have had it good for such a long time, compared with others in Europe. E.G The retirement age for railway workers is 50. If that was limited to say drivers and signalmen, you could say, OK its a safety issue, but this rule applies to everybody, even the booking hall staff. They are laughing at the rest of us as they drive down the road to their second jobs; that is; when they are not traveling somewhere free of charge on the railway.
On the other hand, I always defend pension rights. There are sharks everywhere, especially in the governments, trying to rob us of our pension rights. In France, the contract between the government and workers was a life time contract, but Sarkosy wants to change this, more or less overnight. Therefore those who had planned their retirement for next year are being faced with having to work longer, The impact of the changes to too rapid. For this reason I support the opponents. It is simply not fair.
The same is happening in UK. At least Blair and GB put in place a long term plan to change things over a 15 year period. (I think...), but I am hearing from the British Press that the changes may come sooner under Cameron and his lad. My brother in law who was made redundant might now have to wait another year, or two, to get the pension he expected and has contributed towards in good faith for 44 years. This is not fair.
Defend your pension rights, or regret it.
On the other hand, I always defend pension rights. There are sharks everywhere, especially in the governments, trying to rob us of our pension rights. In France, the contract between the government and workers was a life time contract, but Sarkosy wants to change this, more or less overnight. Therefore those who had planned their retirement for next year are being faced with having to work longer, The impact of the changes to too rapid. For this reason I support the opponents. It is simply not fair.
The same is happening in UK. At least Blair and GB put in place a long term plan to change things over a 15 year period. (I think...), but I am hearing from the British Press that the changes may come sooner under Cameron and his lad. My brother in law who was made redundant might now have to wait another year, or two, to get the pension he expected and has contributed towards in good faith for 44 years. This is not fair.
Defend your pension rights, or regret it.
