France strikes costing up to $565 million a day
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Oct 25, 2010, 11:52:58 PM10/25/10
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Perilous Times
France strikes costing up to $565 million a day
* From correspondents in Paris, France
* From: AP
* October 26, 2010 12:55PM
FRANCE'S massive strikes opposing changes in the country's pension system showed some signs of weakening when Marseille rubbish collectors and workers at three oil refineries voted to end their walkouts.
But the French finance minister announced that the strikes are costing the national economy up to 400 million euro ($565 million) each day, as workers continued to block other oil refineries and some rubbish incinerators to protest the plan to raise the retirement age to 62.
Rotting piles of rubbish - now at nearly 8165 tonnes are becoming a health hazard in Marseille, and rubbish collectors there explained their decision yesterday to suspend their two-week-long walkout as a response to the mounting hygiene problems in the Mediterranean city.
"There's not a wide health risk on the city, but we have noticed a worsening of hygiene and security problems," the head of the FO-Territoriaux union said at a news conference yesterday. "We're a responsible union."
Twelve striking refineries had been shut down for nearly two weeks, but their protest movement appeared to weaken today after workers at three refineries voted to end their walkout. The French oil refineries' body, UFIP, said all the country's oil depots had also been unblocked.
The oil workers' return to work is likely to ease the ongoing gasoline shortages, which today still had about one in four petrol stations in France shuttered.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has stood firm throughout the long protest movement, insisting the reform is necessary to save the money-losing retirement system and ensure funds for future generations as life expectancy increases and the nation's debt soars.
The bill to overhaul France's pension plan is to be definitively voted on this week by the two houses of parliament, likely by tomorrow, officials said after a meeting of a committee that wrote a final version of the legislation to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. It is all but certain to pass.
"We must be aware that in a world without borders we can't have a French exception ... that exists nowhere else," said lawmaker Pierre Mehaignerie, of Sarkozy's UMP party.
Strikers were clearly counting on derailing the measure before it is signed into law after this week's final voting.
Rubbish and petrol are critical weapons for the strikers, who decry the reform as unjust. Besides raising the minimum retirement age to 62, it increases the age to access full retirement benefits from 65 to 67. It was only in 1982 that French employees won the right to retire at 60, and since then it has been considered a well-earned right.
Workers at a large Paris waste incineration plant, in their fifth day of a strike, were catching up with colleagues who have been letting rubbish pile up in Marseille, the nation's second-largest city.
"If we manage to get to a point where unfortunately Paris becomes like Marseille, covered in garbage, I think then the situation could change because Paris is France's showcase," said Olivier Nave, a 39-year-old garbage collector.
"No one wants Paris to look bad with tourists," he told Associated Press Television News.
Currently, the French capital's trash is being rerouted to several other waste treatment sites.
Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said on Europe-1 radio that it was difficult to put a daily price tag on the strikes, but she estimated it at between 200 million euros ($283 million) and 400 million ($565 million).
Beyond that, the strikes are damaging France's image, she said.
The demonstrations against the retirement reform have brought millions into the streets, and polls have shown that most French people support the strikers. Meanwhile, the conservative Mr Sarkozy's popularity is plummeting.
A poll published in Sunday's Journal du Dimanche newspaper showed that only 29 per cent of those surveyed were satisfied with Mr Sarkozy's performance. It was the French leader's lowest rating since taking office in 2007.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/breaking-news/france-strikes-costing-up-to-565-million/story-e6frfkur-1225943701300#ixzz13QwOfHoI
France strikes costing up to $565 million a day
* From correspondents in Paris, France
* From: AP
* October 26, 2010 12:55PM
FRANCE'S massive strikes opposing changes in the country's pension system showed some signs of weakening when Marseille rubbish collectors and workers at three oil refineries voted to end their walkouts.
But the French finance minister announced that the strikes are costing the national economy up to 400 million euro ($565 million) each day, as workers continued to block other oil refineries and some rubbish incinerators to protest the plan to raise the retirement age to 62.
Rotting piles of rubbish - now at nearly 8165 tonnes are becoming a health hazard in Marseille, and rubbish collectors there explained their decision yesterday to suspend their two-week-long walkout as a response to the mounting hygiene problems in the Mediterranean city.
"There's not a wide health risk on the city, but we have noticed a worsening of hygiene and security problems," the head of the FO-Territoriaux union said at a news conference yesterday. "We're a responsible union."
Twelve striking refineries had been shut down for nearly two weeks, but their protest movement appeared to weaken today after workers at three refineries voted to end their walkout. The French oil refineries' body, UFIP, said all the country's oil depots had also been unblocked.
The oil workers' return to work is likely to ease the ongoing gasoline shortages, which today still had about one in four petrol stations in France shuttered.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has stood firm throughout the long protest movement, insisting the reform is necessary to save the money-losing retirement system and ensure funds for future generations as life expectancy increases and the nation's debt soars.
The bill to overhaul France's pension plan is to be definitively voted on this week by the two houses of parliament, likely by tomorrow, officials said after a meeting of a committee that wrote a final version of the legislation to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. It is all but certain to pass.
"We must be aware that in a world without borders we can't have a French exception ... that exists nowhere else," said lawmaker Pierre Mehaignerie, of Sarkozy's UMP party.
Strikers were clearly counting on derailing the measure before it is signed into law after this week's final voting.
Rubbish and petrol are critical weapons for the strikers, who decry the reform as unjust. Besides raising the minimum retirement age to 62, it increases the age to access full retirement benefits from 65 to 67. It was only in 1982 that French employees won the right to retire at 60, and since then it has been considered a well-earned right.
Workers at a large Paris waste incineration plant, in their fifth day of a strike, were catching up with colleagues who have been letting rubbish pile up in Marseille, the nation's second-largest city.
"If we manage to get to a point where unfortunately Paris becomes like Marseille, covered in garbage, I think then the situation could change because Paris is France's showcase," said Olivier Nave, a 39-year-old garbage collector.
"No one wants Paris to look bad with tourists," he told Associated Press Television News.
Currently, the French capital's trash is being rerouted to several other waste treatment sites.
Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said on Europe-1 radio that it was difficult to put a daily price tag on the strikes, but she estimated it at between 200 million euros ($283 million) and 400 million ($565 million).
Beyond that, the strikes are damaging France's image, she said.
The demonstrations against the retirement reform have brought millions into the streets, and polls have shown that most French people support the strikers. Meanwhile, the conservative Mr Sarkozy's popularity is plummeting.
A poll published in Sunday's Journal du Dimanche newspaper showed that only 29 per cent of those surveyed were satisfied with Mr Sarkozy's performance. It was the French leader's lowest rating since taking office in 2007.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/breaking-news/france-strikes-costing-up-to-565-million/story-e6frfkur-1225943701300#ixzz13QwOfHoI
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