Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Strikes in France
Workers in France are striking against the potential raise of the age of retirement. Strikes have caused petroleum shortages, slow down of transportation as well as disruption throughout schools. The pension reform bill has already passed in the lower house and will be voted on in upper house parliament this week. President Sarkozy refuses to give on the retirement age and instead has offered longer maternity leave, but protests continue. With the oil shortages, Sarkozy might just be forced to give in to workers' demands. How can France limit it's government spending while still keeping its workers happy?
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2 comments:
I understand where the workers on strike are coming from but I think they need to come to the realization that its either raise the age of retirement or have an under-funded welfare system. Taxes are already high in France and raising them would most likely even further upset the public. The workers need to come to a realization that the the government isn't budging and go back to work before they jeopardize their economy.
I'm not sure the French government can cut spending and keep the workers happy at the same time. The French are very resistant to change and are not willing to lose benefits they have had for years, such as retirement at age 60. In France protests are the only real way for the people to express discontent with government policies and they are likely to continue until workers accept these changes or the government gives in. As Ian pointed out there needs to be cuts in order to continue funding the welfare system but who knows if workers will finally accept this as one of them.
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