FRANCE: Public Unions have blockaded airports and dried up gas stations because they have to retire two years later than planned (at age 62) to keep the country from going bankrupt from entitlements. ~~~ Coming soon to America.... via MSNBC:
MARSEILLE, France — Battling for benefits is a tradition in the Gilly family, passed from generation to generation — as it is for families across the country. And that goes some way toward explaining why the protests against plans to raise France's retirement age have shown such determination and ferocity.
For Gilly and many other Frenchmen and women, social benefits such as long vacations, state-subsidized healthcare and early retirement are more than just luxuries: They're seen as a birthright — an essential part of the identity of today's France.
The protest against a government plan to raise the retirement age to 62 has special meaning for five members of the Eric Gilly clan who are demonstrating in the streets of Marseille.
"We want to stop working at 60 because it's something our parents, our grandparents and even our great-grandparents fought for," says Gilly, 50, a union representative at Saint-Pierre Cemetery, the largest in this bustling Mediterranean port city.
"And over the years ... you can see that we're losing everything they fought for. And that's unacceptable."
In Marseille, strikes to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy's planned retirement reform have shut down docks, left tons of garbage putrefying on sidewalks and drawn tens of thousands into the streets for each of six protest marches since early September.
No comments:
Post a Comment