France is buckwild again- threats of general nation wide strike
- Thread starter Makkonnen
- Start date
My criticism of the current situation is that there is a french law which states that after a period of time, it becomes VERY difficult for a French employer to fire/lay off and employee. Combine that with the soocial tax liability, and you get a situation which leads to fewer jobs being created. That contributes heavily, IMO, to the currently high unemployment rates in France. DeVillapein (sic) is trying to roll back that law to not cover those under 26, and there is a ruckus over that. Nothing but the atitude of entitlement rearing it's ugly head, AGAIN !!!parisian said:
nah you think those racist fucks are gonna hire young people of color because of that bullshit? hell naw- that shit just lets them fuck over any young person and they will only hire young people and not older people who they cant fuck overFuckallyall said:My criticism of the current situation is that there is a french law which states that after a period of time, it becomes VERY difficult for a French employer to fire/lay off and employee. Combine that with the soocial tax liability, and you get a situation which leads to fewer jobs being created. That contributes heavily, IMO, to the currently high unemployment rates in France. DeVillapein (sic) is trying to roll back that law to not cover those under 26, and there is a ruckus over that. Nothing but the atitude of entitlement rearing it's ugly head, AGAIN !!!
I hear ya, but from what I see, it ain't just the recent immigrants whyildin'. It's also the indigenous French beefing. Also, why not let the market work. Older workers, because of thier experience, tend to be more productive than youngins. Also, the amout of payroll taxes are the same, no matter what the age of the employee is.Makkonnen said:
VegasGuy said:
YOU, FAT LAZY FUCK! DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT...AGAIN--SALOPRIT DE EAU DE VAISAILLE, LICHEZ MON CULS ESPESE DE GRAND PUTAIN DE VILLE...NOW THEN...
YOU got nerve! You ever even met a French Man or Woman in your life time??
The "PEOPLE"that are rebelling(NON VOTING, UNEMPLOYED, GRAFITTI SCRAWLING, ROLLED CIGARETTE SMOKING, COMBAT BOOT WEARING, DYED-SPLIT END HAIR HAVING, UNREGISTERED SCOOTER RIDING--STREET PUNKS) do not represent French MEN OR WOMEN by any stretch of the imagingation. The PUNK BITCHES of France , who quite frankly reblel when they feel someone OWES them something! The attitude is well if you won't give it to us then we will have a tempertantrum. If you don't pay attention then we'll get violent and destroy our own stuff! AWWW....booo hooo 
oh yeah the whole CGT are "(NON VOTING, UNEMPLOYED, GRAFITTI SCRAWLING, ROLLED CIGARETTE SMOKING, COMBAT BOOT WEARING, DYED-SPLIT END HAIR HAVING, UNREGISTERED SCOOTER RIDING--STREET PUNKS)" are going on a nationwide strikeGET YOU HOT said:YOU, FAT LAZY FUCK! DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT...AGAIN--SALOPRIT DE EAU DE VAISAILLE, LICHEZ MON CULS ESPESE DE GRAND PUTAIN DE VILLE...NOW THEN...
YOU got nerve! You ever even met a French Man or Woman in your life time??
remind me again - which labor union is it that is filled with people who are unemployed?
looks like all the unionized workers of France are non-voting graffiti scrawling, rollef cigarette smoking, combat boot wearing, dyed splitend hair having, unregistered scooter riding street punks who are going on strike
[frame]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4826918.stm[/frame]
[frame]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4826918.stm[/frame]
Makkonnen said:
KEY WORD...REBELING! STRIKING IN FRANCE IS A WAY OF LIFE...I SHOULD KNOW HINT HINT
...I AM TALKING ABOUT THE VIOLENT THUGS SETTING FIRE TO OBJECTS TO NO AVAIL...HELLO! 
i hear what youre saying but the protests of late are mostly college students right? and they are gettin violent tooGET YOU HOT said:KEY WORD...REBELING! STRIKING IN FRANCE IS A WAY OF LIFE...I SHOULD KNOW HINT HINT
so when there's a general strike and their is violence will you blame that on that group you describe too? cmon France's problems involve more than the group of social outcasts you describe.
Makkonnen said:
GENERAL STRIKE VS PROTEST...TWO SLIGHTLY SIMILAR THINGS...STRIKE USUALLY INVOLVES NOT GOING TO WORK, PICKETING, ACTIVISM, UNIONS, TO FORCE AN EMPLOYER TO COMPLY WITH CHANGE IN POLICY/WAGES...PROTEST USUALLY INVOLVES EITHER ORGANIZED OR UNORGANIZED PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF DISAPPROVAL/UNWILLINGNESS TO COMPLY, MARCHING, AND VIOLENCE...IT'S THE VIOLENCE THAT I CAN'T STAND..AND THE FEW "PEOPLE" WHO PERPETUATE THIS VIOLENCE ARE THE MAIN ONES...WHO I DON'T ASSOCIATE WITH BEING MEN OR WOMEN...THEY ARE INDEED SCUM.
ANYHOW, MY BEEF WAS WITH VEGAS
CALLING FRENCH PEOPLE LAZY.GET YOU HOT said:GENERAL STRIKE VS PROTEST...TWO SLIGHTLY SIMILAR THINGS...STRIKE USUALLY INVOLVES NOT GOING TO WORK, PICKETING, ACTIVISM, UNIONS, TO FORCE AN EMPLOYER TO COMPLY WITH CHANGE IN POLICY/WAGES...PROTEST USUALLY INVOLVES EITHER ORGANIZED OR UNORGANIZED PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF DISAPPROVAL/UNWILLINGNESS TO COMPLY, MARCHING, AND VIOLENCE...IT'S THE VIOLENCE THAT I CAN'T STAND..AND THE FEW "PEOPLE" WHO PERPETUATE THIS VIOLENCE ARE THE MAIN ONES...WHO I DON'T ASSOCIATE WITH BEING MEN OR WOMEN...THEY ARE INDEED SCUM.
ANYHOW, MY BEEF WAS WITH VEGAS
Yep, you must be a frenchy. Help your people to understand they are not owed a job those lazy asses need a wake up call. And got one.
-VG
VegasGuy said:Yep, you must be a frenchy. Help your people to understand they are not owed a job those lazy asses need a wake up call. And got one.
-VG
YOU HAVE THE MANNERS APTITUDE AND HABITS OF THE COMMON HOUSE FLY, EATS, SHITS AND VOMITS ALL IN THE SAME PLACE...NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER
P.S. NEED A TRANSLATION
VegasGuy said:Far out Bob! Ya sound like ya gettin' a little hot there fella.
-VG
sounds like you know that hot fella named bob really well is he the one who gets your ass all stanked up?
Makkonnen said:
no doubt, but ol boy was long over due for some regulation..
back to work...so what's new with the students?
Student Discontent Runs Deep in France
French Students Asking for Steady Jobs, Not Big Dreams, As They Protest New Government Job Plan
By ANGELA DOLAND
The Associated Press
PARIS - When student demonstrators in France wear trash bags to protests, their message is: "We're not disposable." They're angry about a new government job plan that will allow employers to fire them more easily. But that's just the tipping point.
The unemployment rate for France's young people is more than 20 percent, or twice the national average. Many college graduates must string together odd jobs, meaning they don't dare move out of their parents' homes or start families. Without a steady job, it's extremely hard to rent an apartment or even to open a bank account.
Job competition from emerging markets the government's key argument for the new law is far from most students' minds. Their leaders say French workers cannot accept longer hours and lower pay on par with Asian economies.
"What the student demonstrations are saying is that the young refuse to live in the world as it is," said Bruno Julliard, the head of France's main student association, UNEF.
Student groups have suggested earlier job training and individual job counseling, but there's no consensus among young people on a radical way to solve youth unemployment.
The new law, which takes effect next month, allows employers to fire workers younger than 26 in the first two years on the job, without citing a reason. It offers a measure of flexibility the government hopes will spur employers to hire young people, but critics say it gives younger workers less job security and undermines France's generous labor protections.
Bolstered by support from trade unions, students led a new protest Tuesday, marching across the Left Bank and shouting "It's the street that rules!"
Tensions mounted afterward as several hundred protesters tossed bottles and stones at riot police near the Luxembourg Gardens, and officers retaliated with tear gas. A few stragglers took advantage of the chaotic scene to steal cell phones and break mirrors off cars along the march route. About 10 people were taken into custody, judicial officials said.
Students have blockaded dozens of universities across France, prompting about 300 students to stage a counterdemonstration outside Paris' famed Pantheon.
"We are not all in favor of the jobs plan, but we refuse to sacrifice our studies over it," said one demonstrator, 18-year-old Thomas Seince.
Along with this fall's riots in France's depressed neighborhoods, the protests have been a major test for conservative Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and highlight the challenges faced by many European governments looking to reform their job markets to cope with globalization.
Villepin said Tuesday that unions and employers could discuss improvements to the contested "first job contract" but he refused to consider canceling it or substantially changing it.
"The law is well-crafted," he insisted in a meeting with youths.
The boisterous debate could shape the outcome of next year's presidential and parliamentary elections. Villepin's popularity has plunged, and the Socialists have vowed to revoke the law if they return to power.
Attention also focused on a protester in a coma after Saturday's demonstration. Union leaders claimed the 39-year-old man had been "violently trampled by a police charge," but a top police union official said demonstrators had struck him.
"The entire country has plunged into a test of power, which could become very serious," Jean-Marc Ayrault, the Socialist leader in the National Assembly, told the lower house.
When Ayrault claimed that Villepin was driven by "egotism," many ruling party lawmakers left the chamber, shaking their fists and shouting "CPE" the French acronym for the jobs contract.
Meanwhile, courts have begun intervening to stop the university blockades. A tribunal in southeastern France on Monday ruled that every student occupying Grenoble's universities could face fines of $60 a day starting Thursday.
Another day of nationwide street protests is planned for Thursday, and trade unions called a national day of strikes for March 28 which are expected to affect sectors from travel to industry.
Associated Press Writer Paul Duke and Jean-Marie Godard in Paris contributed to this report.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures
------------------
France Braces for Strike on Standoff Between Unions, Government
March 22 (Bloomberg) -- France, caught in a standoff between the government and unions on a new work law, is bracing for a disruption of services on March 28 with workers at the national rail company and the Paris subway joining the protests.
``We have to take the path of dialogue,'' Eric Woerth, a member of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement party, said in an interview. ``We can't have reforms without consulting the social partners.''
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has said he will not revoke the law, known by its French acronym CPE, which lets companies fire workers under 26 within the first two years of employment with little notice or severance. Unions have made the law's revocation a condition to start talks with the government.
The most contentious issue faced by de Villepin in his 10 months in office, the CPE has divided the governing party and united the opposition Socialists, as they joined forces with the unions and students just 14 months before France's presidential elections. Lawmakers from the UMP party asked de Villepin to break the deadlock in a meeting today.
Protests are widening after Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer de France, which manages the railways and part of the French capital's suburban train network, said yesterday it filed a notice to strike from 8 p.m. on March 27.
Employees will also abstain from work at Reseau Autonome des Transports Parisiens, or RATP, which manages the 16 lines of the Paris metro, said Jean-Michel Drou, a representative of Confederation Francaise Democratique du Travail, France's largest union.
``It's likely to touch other transportation companies'' such as Air France-KLM SA, Drou said.
Against the Law
Two out of three French people are against the law, a survey of 857 people by polling company CSA showed last week. The law is part of de Villepin's attempt to curb unemployment, which is 9.6 percent nationwide and 22.2 percent among the young. Protests against the law drew as many as 1.5 million people to the streets across the country on March 18.
De Villepin, 52, has said he won't repeal the law. ``We have to give the CPE a chance,'' he said in an interview with student magazine Citato published yesterday. He argues that greater firing flexibility will encourage hiring.
Protests against the law have intensified in the last few weeks as students have occupied universities, disrupting classes. More than half of France's universities still remain on strike, and high schools joined the protests. The Sorbonne University, a symbol of the 1968 student movement, has been sealed off the rest of the Latin Quarter. A demonstration yesterday afternoon in Paris ended near the Luxembourg gardens.
`Go Quickly'
``We're calling for work stoppages, strikes and demonstrations,'' on March 28, Rene Valladon, secretary general of the Force Ouvriere union, said on LCI television this week.
Although less than 10 percent of the French workforce is unionized, unions are still a force to reckon with in the public sector and can disrupt transport and other public services.
Socialist leaders including First Secretary Francois Hollande, former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius and former Culture Minister Jack Lang marched March 18 with demonstrators.
``We are worried about where all of this is heading,'' said Arnaud Montebourg, a Socialist lawmaker. ``Dialogue is what should have happened before. The situation is now blocked. It's an explosive situation where the political institutions are discredited.''
De Villepin's approval rating fell to its lowest since he became head of government last May, the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche said March 19. A survey by Ifop showed 61 percent were dissatisfied with de Villepin, up from 54 percent last month.
``We need to get out of this with our heads held high which means we need initiatives,'' said UMP law maker Yves Jego. ``We must go quickly.''
French Students Asking for Steady Jobs, Not Big Dreams, As They Protest New Government Job Plan
By ANGELA DOLAND
The Associated Press
PARIS - When student demonstrators in France wear trash bags to protests, their message is: "We're not disposable." They're angry about a new government job plan that will allow employers to fire them more easily. But that's just the tipping point.
The unemployment rate for France's young people is more than 20 percent, or twice the national average. Many college graduates must string together odd jobs, meaning they don't dare move out of their parents' homes or start families. Without a steady job, it's extremely hard to rent an apartment or even to open a bank account.
Job competition from emerging markets the government's key argument for the new law is far from most students' minds. Their leaders say French workers cannot accept longer hours and lower pay on par with Asian economies.
"What the student demonstrations are saying is that the young refuse to live in the world as it is," said Bruno Julliard, the head of France's main student association, UNEF.
Student groups have suggested earlier job training and individual job counseling, but there's no consensus among young people on a radical way to solve youth unemployment.
The new law, which takes effect next month, allows employers to fire workers younger than 26 in the first two years on the job, without citing a reason. It offers a measure of flexibility the government hopes will spur employers to hire young people, but critics say it gives younger workers less job security and undermines France's generous labor protections.
Bolstered by support from trade unions, students led a new protest Tuesday, marching across the Left Bank and shouting "It's the street that rules!"
Tensions mounted afterward as several hundred protesters tossed bottles and stones at riot police near the Luxembourg Gardens, and officers retaliated with tear gas. A few stragglers took advantage of the chaotic scene to steal cell phones and break mirrors off cars along the march route. About 10 people were taken into custody, judicial officials said.
Students have blockaded dozens of universities across France, prompting about 300 students to stage a counterdemonstration outside Paris' famed Pantheon.
"We are not all in favor of the jobs plan, but we refuse to sacrifice our studies over it," said one demonstrator, 18-year-old Thomas Seince.
Along with this fall's riots in France's depressed neighborhoods, the protests have been a major test for conservative Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and highlight the challenges faced by many European governments looking to reform their job markets to cope with globalization.
Villepin said Tuesday that unions and employers could discuss improvements to the contested "first job contract" but he refused to consider canceling it or substantially changing it.
"The law is well-crafted," he insisted in a meeting with youths.
The boisterous debate could shape the outcome of next year's presidential and parliamentary elections. Villepin's popularity has plunged, and the Socialists have vowed to revoke the law if they return to power.
Attention also focused on a protester in a coma after Saturday's demonstration. Union leaders claimed the 39-year-old man had been "violently trampled by a police charge," but a top police union official said demonstrators had struck him.
"The entire country has plunged into a test of power, which could become very serious," Jean-Marc Ayrault, the Socialist leader in the National Assembly, told the lower house.
When Ayrault claimed that Villepin was driven by "egotism," many ruling party lawmakers left the chamber, shaking their fists and shouting "CPE" the French acronym for the jobs contract.
Meanwhile, courts have begun intervening to stop the university blockades. A tribunal in southeastern France on Monday ruled that every student occupying Grenoble's universities could face fines of $60 a day starting Thursday.
Another day of nationwide street protests is planned for Thursday, and trade unions called a national day of strikes for March 28 which are expected to affect sectors from travel to industry.
Associated Press Writer Paul Duke and Jean-Marie Godard in Paris contributed to this report.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures
------------------
France Braces for Strike on Standoff Between Unions, Government
March 22 (Bloomberg) -- France, caught in a standoff between the government and unions on a new work law, is bracing for a disruption of services on March 28 with workers at the national rail company and the Paris subway joining the protests.
``We have to take the path of dialogue,'' Eric Woerth, a member of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement party, said in an interview. ``We can't have reforms without consulting the social partners.''
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has said he will not revoke the law, known by its French acronym CPE, which lets companies fire workers under 26 within the first two years of employment with little notice or severance. Unions have made the law's revocation a condition to start talks with the government.
The most contentious issue faced by de Villepin in his 10 months in office, the CPE has divided the governing party and united the opposition Socialists, as they joined forces with the unions and students just 14 months before France's presidential elections. Lawmakers from the UMP party asked de Villepin to break the deadlock in a meeting today.
Protests are widening after Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer de France, which manages the railways and part of the French capital's suburban train network, said yesterday it filed a notice to strike from 8 p.m. on March 27.
Employees will also abstain from work at Reseau Autonome des Transports Parisiens, or RATP, which manages the 16 lines of the Paris metro, said Jean-Michel Drou, a representative of Confederation Francaise Democratique du Travail, France's largest union.
``It's likely to touch other transportation companies'' such as Air France-KLM SA, Drou said.
Against the Law
Two out of three French people are against the law, a survey of 857 people by polling company CSA showed last week. The law is part of de Villepin's attempt to curb unemployment, which is 9.6 percent nationwide and 22.2 percent among the young. Protests against the law drew as many as 1.5 million people to the streets across the country on March 18.
De Villepin, 52, has said he won't repeal the law. ``We have to give the CPE a chance,'' he said in an interview with student magazine Citato published yesterday. He argues that greater firing flexibility will encourage hiring.
Protests against the law have intensified in the last few weeks as students have occupied universities, disrupting classes. More than half of France's universities still remain on strike, and high schools joined the protests. The Sorbonne University, a symbol of the 1968 student movement, has been sealed off the rest of the Latin Quarter. A demonstration yesterday afternoon in Paris ended near the Luxembourg gardens.
`Go Quickly'
``We're calling for work stoppages, strikes and demonstrations,'' on March 28, Rene Valladon, secretary general of the Force Ouvriere union, said on LCI television this week.
Although less than 10 percent of the French workforce is unionized, unions are still a force to reckon with in the public sector and can disrupt transport and other public services.
Socialist leaders including First Secretary Francois Hollande, former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius and former Culture Minister Jack Lang marched March 18 with demonstrators.
``We are worried about where all of this is heading,'' said Arnaud Montebourg, a Socialist lawmaker. ``Dialogue is what should have happened before. The situation is now blocked. It's an explosive situation where the political institutions are discredited.''
De Villepin's approval rating fell to its lowest since he became head of government last May, the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche said March 19. A survey by Ifop showed 61 percent were dissatisfied with de Villepin, up from 54 percent last month.
``We need to get out of this with our heads held high which means we need initiatives,'' said UMP law maker Yves Jego. ``We must go quickly.''
Pictures and new article
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsa...Z_01_L23178518_RTRUKOC_0_US-FRANCE.xml&rpc=22
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsa...Z_01_L23178518_RTRUKOC_0_US-FRANCE.xml&rpc=22
France braces for black Tuesday
Herald Sun ^ | 27 March 2006
FRANCE is bracing for a "black Tuesday" of strikes and demonstrations against the government's contested youth jobs contract, amid warnings of a growing risk of violence.
Sacre Bleu!
Herald Sun ^ | 27 March 2006
FRANCE is bracing for a "black Tuesday" of strikes and demonstrations against the government's contested youth jobs contract, amid warnings of a growing risk of violence.
Sacre Bleu!
GET YOU HOT said:sounds like you know that hot fella named bob really well is he the one who gets your ass all stanked up?
VegasGuy said:
At Least a Million Turn Out in France
By JENNY BARCHFIELD, Associated Press Writer
1 minute ago
PARIS - Police said at least 1 million people — organizers said 3 million — poured into the streets across France on Tuesday in the latest protests against the government's new jobs law.
It was the second time in a week that unions and student groups had succeeded in mobilizing such numbers. The largest march, in Paris, drew at least 80,000 people, while 935,000 marched in other parts of the country, police said. Organizers put the figure in the capital at 700,000 — and 3 million nationwide.
The nationwide strike shut down the Eiffel Tower and snarled air and rail travel over a jobs measure that has riven the country and put the government in crisis mode.
SOURCE:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060404...N9vaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
By JENNY BARCHFIELD, Associated Press Writer
1 minute ago
PARIS - Police said at least 1 million people — organizers said 3 million — poured into the streets across France on Tuesday in the latest protests against the government's new jobs law.
It was the second time in a week that unions and student groups had succeeded in mobilizing such numbers. The largest march, in Paris, drew at least 80,000 people, while 935,000 marched in other parts of the country, police said. Organizers put the figure in the capital at 700,000 — and 3 million nationwide.
The nationwide strike shut down the Eiffel Tower and snarled air and rail travel over a jobs measure that has riven the country and put the government in crisis mode.
SOURCE:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060404...N9vaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
APStudents in France Block Roads, Trains
AP - 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
PARIS - Students protesting a new labor law put more pressure on France's embattled government Thursday by blocking roads, trains and a convoy of parts heading to the factory that builds the world's largest airliner. About 100 students blocked a highway used by trucks carrying Airbus A380 parts to the factory outside Toulouse, in southwest France. The pre-dawn protest was calm but prevented the delivery for about two and a half hours, police said.
SOURCE:http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/France
AP - 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
PARIS - Students protesting a new labor law put more pressure on France's embattled government Thursday by blocking roads, trains and a convoy of parts heading to the factory that builds the world's largest airliner. About 100 students blocked a highway used by trucks carrying Airbus A380 parts to the factory outside Toulouse, in southwest France. The pre-dawn protest was calm but prevented the delivery for about two and a half hours, police said.
SOURCE:http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/France
The beauty of a French pink slip
employment security or job security? france has made its choice which means america must have done the opposite and succeeded
The beauty of a French pink slip
Published April 6, 2006
French students and unions have been protesting for weeks now over a law making it easier for companies to get rid of employees. Under the measure recently signed by President Jacques Chirac, companies may fire workers younger than 26 during their first two years on the job--for no reason whatsoever.
The demonstrators think that's a bad idea, and they're right. Here's a better one: Let companies fire any workers of any age at any time for no reason at all. Sales are off? The job is redundant? Outsourcing beckons? You part your hair on the wrong side? Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
It may seem as though my proposal would be great for greedy corporations but lousy for ordinary workers. In fact, surprising though it may be, workers would gain immeasurably. That's because the greatest threat to job security in western Europe is job security. The best guarantee of employment, by contrast, is no guarantee.
France is just one of many countries on the continent that give many employees something like lifelong tenure.
"In France," explains The Associated Press, "workers who land a coveted permanent contract can plan to stay at their jobs until retirement. To fire most employees, companies not only have to give at least three months' notice, pay fines to the state and up to three years of severance--they also have to convince a judge that the dismissal is justified, something they don't always manage to do."
The obvious result is that many employees can't be separated from their jobs without dynamite and a crowbar. But there are some not-so-obvious results as well. One is that companies have to keep workers who aren't needed anymore, making it tough for those companies to compete with more streamlined competitors abroad.
The other is that managers regard new hires the way most of us regard telemarketers--as something to be avoided, not welcomed. Hire the wrong people, and you may be stuck with them forever, if not longer. When in doubt, it's wise to keep payrolls to an absolute minimum.
That's the opposite of the attitude among employers in the United States, where the prevailing rule is "fire at will." There's much less risk in taking on a new employee--if she does a mediocre job, or the need for it disappears, a company can give her the gate. From individual dismissals to mass layoffs, employers generally don't need to ask permission from anyone.
You'd think that in a place where it's easy to fire workers, there would be a lot more workers without jobs. But just the opposite is true: Over the last decade, the unemployment rate in France has averaged double the rate here. In Germany, which also has extensive restrictions on dismissals, the unemployment rate (currently a staggering 12 percent) has consistently exceeded ours.
Whatever else we do badly, we are great at creating jobs. Whatever else those countries do well, they are terrible at it.
Americans worry that too many of the new jobs here are low-paying spots for low-skilled workers, particularly immigrants. The Germans and French should wish for such troubles. Their problem is that there are so few jobs for the unskilled--sentencing many immigrants, as well as natives, to lives of perpetual idleness at public expense.
Critics of unfettered capitalism claim our system has eroded living standards for workers at the bottom of the ladder. There is some truth in that, but France and its neighbors have been doing the same thing--only for everyone.
Since 1992, the French economy has grown at an average rate of less than 2 percent per year, and Germany has managed only 1.4 percent annually. For the European Union as a whole, the rate was just 1.9 percent. In the U.S., we've averaged nearly 3.3 percent growth.
Those may sound like tiny differences, but as with interest rates on a mortgage, they compound into big money. Thanks to anemic growth, Europe has fallen far behind the U.S. in per capita income--which is now more than 50 percent higher here than in France, Germany, Belgium and Netherlands. Today, these countries still qualify as rich. In a generation, at the rate things are going, they won't.
The French protesters think they're defending their right to employment security. But secure employment in the 21st Century doesn't consist of hanging onto your current job come hell or high water. It consists of being able to find your next one.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0604060144apr06,1,7207738.column?coll=chi-news-col
employment security or job security? france has made its choice which means america must have done the opposite and succeeded
The beauty of a French pink slip
Published April 6, 2006
French students and unions have been protesting for weeks now over a law making it easier for companies to get rid of employees. Under the measure recently signed by President Jacques Chirac, companies may fire workers younger than 26 during their first two years on the job--for no reason whatsoever.
The demonstrators think that's a bad idea, and they're right. Here's a better one: Let companies fire any workers of any age at any time for no reason at all. Sales are off? The job is redundant? Outsourcing beckons? You part your hair on the wrong side? Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
It may seem as though my proposal would be great for greedy corporations but lousy for ordinary workers. In fact, surprising though it may be, workers would gain immeasurably. That's because the greatest threat to job security in western Europe is job security. The best guarantee of employment, by contrast, is no guarantee.
France is just one of many countries on the continent that give many employees something like lifelong tenure.
"In France," explains The Associated Press, "workers who land a coveted permanent contract can plan to stay at their jobs until retirement. To fire most employees, companies not only have to give at least three months' notice, pay fines to the state and up to three years of severance--they also have to convince a judge that the dismissal is justified, something they don't always manage to do."
The obvious result is that many employees can't be separated from their jobs without dynamite and a crowbar. But there are some not-so-obvious results as well. One is that companies have to keep workers who aren't needed anymore, making it tough for those companies to compete with more streamlined competitors abroad.
The other is that managers regard new hires the way most of us regard telemarketers--as something to be avoided, not welcomed. Hire the wrong people, and you may be stuck with them forever, if not longer. When in doubt, it's wise to keep payrolls to an absolute minimum.
That's the opposite of the attitude among employers in the United States, where the prevailing rule is "fire at will." There's much less risk in taking on a new employee--if she does a mediocre job, or the need for it disappears, a company can give her the gate. From individual dismissals to mass layoffs, employers generally don't need to ask permission from anyone.
You'd think that in a place where it's easy to fire workers, there would be a lot more workers without jobs. But just the opposite is true: Over the last decade, the unemployment rate in France has averaged double the rate here. In Germany, which also has extensive restrictions on dismissals, the unemployment rate (currently a staggering 12 percent) has consistently exceeded ours.
Whatever else we do badly, we are great at creating jobs. Whatever else those countries do well, they are terrible at it.
Americans worry that too many of the new jobs here are low-paying spots for low-skilled workers, particularly immigrants. The Germans and French should wish for such troubles. Their problem is that there are so few jobs for the unskilled--sentencing many immigrants, as well as natives, to lives of perpetual idleness at public expense.
Critics of unfettered capitalism claim our system has eroded living standards for workers at the bottom of the ladder. There is some truth in that, but France and its neighbors have been doing the same thing--only for everyone.
Since 1992, the French economy has grown at an average rate of less than 2 percent per year, and Germany has managed only 1.4 percent annually. For the European Union as a whole, the rate was just 1.9 percent. In the U.S., we've averaged nearly 3.3 percent growth.
Those may sound like tiny differences, but as with interest rates on a mortgage, they compound into big money. Thanks to anemic growth, Europe has fallen far behind the U.S. in per capita income--which is now more than 50 percent higher here than in France, Germany, Belgium and Netherlands. Today, these countries still qualify as rich. In a generation, at the rate things are going, they won't.
The French protesters think they're defending their right to employment security. But secure employment in the 21st Century doesn't consist of hanging onto your current job come hell or high water. It consists of being able to find your next one.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0604060144apr06,1,7207738.column?coll=chi-news-col
Chirac to replace youth jobs law
AP - Mon Apr 10, 7:10 AM ET
PARIS - After weeks of protests and strikes, President Jacques Chirac announced plans Monday to "replace" a law that would have made it easier for companies to fire workers under age 26. The deal represents a defeat for Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who had insisted on the law as a means of reducing high unemployment rates among young people. Chirac's office said the president decided to "replace" a key provision of the law with a measure aimed at "youths in difficulty."
AP - Mon Apr 10, 7:10 AM ET
PARIS - After weeks of protests and strikes, President Jacques Chirac announced plans Monday to "replace" a law that would have made it easier for companies to fire workers under age 26. The deal represents a defeat for Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who had insisted on the law as a means of reducing high unemployment rates among young people. Chirac's office said the president decided to "replace" a key provision of the law with a measure aimed at "youths in difficulty."
wtf? are you insane? Oh that's right you are insane. Carry on Fernando.Duke said:NAH NIGGA! POST HIS PERSONAL INFO LIKE YOU USUALLY DO WHEN FOLKS GET THE BEST OF YA NIKKA!
Bruh,Duke said:NAH NIGGA! POST HIS PERSONAL INFO LIKE YOU USUALLY DO WHEN FOLKS GET THE BEST OF YA NIKKA!
I've warned you once and I'm not going to do it again.
Read the goddamn rules. Or ....
QueEx
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