Public sector strikes hit France
French postal workers have gone on strike, launching days of public sector walkouts that will also hit the railways and electricity grid.
The postal unions are angry at plans to open up the service to outside competition in line with EU directives.
Trade unions said some 20% of their staff had joined the one-day strike, but employers put the number at 15%.
Rail workers also began their one-day action late on Tuesday, that is set to bring chaos to France's railways.
Electricity workers will stage walkouts on Wednesday, with teachers and other civil servants protesting on Thursday.
The strikes are being seen as an important test for the centre-right government of President Jacques Chirac.
The unions say the government's economic policies are a threat both to the public sector and to the purchasing power of working men and women.
Their demands include higher wages, and an end to moves to relax the 35-hour working week.
Severe disruptions
Unions have repeatedly warned that plans to introduce competition into mail delivery will force many rural post offices to close.
People wait for their trains at the Saint-Lazare train station in Paris, as an information panel informs that the traffic will be very perturb
French rail travellers are now braced for severe delays and cancellations
They are also protesting against what they described as a creeping privatisation.
"Public service, yes! Privatisation, no!" hundreds of postal workers chanted outside parliament in Paris on Tuesday.
There were scuffles with police when some 80 workers led by the head of the Trotskyist Revolutionary Communist League (LCR), Olivier Besancenot - himself a postman - demonstrated near the Paris home of Nicolas Sarkozy, leader of the governing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4182961.stm
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Frenchies are out.
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It's good to get these types of threads, the ridiculous my manager said bollox, so we can reassure ourselves that while the world is falling apart, Royal Mail managers are still being the low-life C***S they have always been.
My BFF Clash
The daily grind of having to argue your case with an intellectual pigmy of a line manager is physically and emotionally draining.
It's good to get these types of threads, the ridiculous my manager said bollox, so we can reassure ourselves that while the world is falling apart, Royal Mail managers are still being the low-life C***S they have always been.
My BFF Clash
The daily grind of having to argue your case with an intellectual pigmy of a line manager is physically and emotionally draining.
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French postal workers protest privatization move
French postal workers protest privatization move
PARIS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of French postal workers went on strike on Tuesday in protest at plans to open the country's mail network to private investment, post office operator La Poste said.
Postal unions say allowing private capital in would be the first step toward privatization, and a sell-out of a public institution most French are happy to see run by the state.
An opinion survey by pollsters CSA published in communist daily Humanite showed 61 percent of respondents oppose the move, while 57 percent support the striking employees.
Entirely state-owned, France's postal system is emblematic to many of an effective, tax-funded service whose blue- and yellow-clad carriers guarantee delivery even in remote areas.
But its leadership says it needs 3 billion euros ($4.40 billion) to get into shape for competition when the sector opens fully in 2011 in accordance with European Union rules.
Any move towards privatization would require the postal service to become a public limited company instead of a branch of the civil service.
La Poste said in a statement that some 25 percent of employees were taking part in the one-day protest at around 0900 GMT. The operator employs around 300,000 in total.
The government has yet to voice an official position on the investment plan sought by the group's management, but President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for a commission to discuss the matter for two months from October.
The postal system includes a popular savings branch where the majority of the country holds an account.
http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/23092008/323/fr ... -move.html
PARIS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of French postal workers went on strike on Tuesday in protest at plans to open the country's mail network to private investment, post office operator La Poste said.
Postal unions say allowing private capital in would be the first step toward privatization, and a sell-out of a public institution most French are happy to see run by the state.
An opinion survey by pollsters CSA published in communist daily Humanite showed 61 percent of respondents oppose the move, while 57 percent support the striking employees.
Entirely state-owned, France's postal system is emblematic to many of an effective, tax-funded service whose blue- and yellow-clad carriers guarantee delivery even in remote areas.
But its leadership says it needs 3 billion euros ($4.40 billion) to get into shape for competition when the sector opens fully in 2011 in accordance with European Union rules.
Any move towards privatization would require the postal service to become a public limited company instead of a branch of the civil service.
La Poste said in a statement that some 25 percent of employees were taking part in the one-day protest at around 0900 GMT. The operator employs around 300,000 in total.
The government has yet to voice an official position on the investment plan sought by the group's management, but President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for a commission to discuss the matter for two months from October.
The postal system includes a popular savings branch where the majority of the country holds an account.
http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/23092008/323/fr ... -move.html
I Wrote-During Covid-Which is still relevant now
It's good to get these types of threads, the ridiculous my manager said bollox, so we can reassure ourselves that while the world is falling apart, Royal Mail managers are still being the low-life C***S they have always been.
My BFF Clash
The daily grind of having to argue your case with an intellectual pigmy of a line manager is physically and emotionally draining.
It's good to get these types of threads, the ridiculous my manager said bollox, so we can reassure ourselves that while the world is falling apart, Royal Mail managers are still being the low-life C***S they have always been.
My BFF Clash
The daily grind of having to argue your case with an intellectual pigmy of a line manager is physically and emotionally draining.