I guess, in France, it's becoming fashionable to kidnap the boss when workers don't want the company to lay off -- even during a down-turned economy.
Recently, we learned about a poll that reflected 45% (of those polled) approved of such tactics. Yesterday we learned, it has happened again.
Now before we get to far into this, let me say, I don't claim to completely understand the French. I don't think the French completely understand themselves, in many instances. But historically speaking, the French are often credited with perfecting the art of mob rule, and for good reason. So it should come as no surprise that this is now happening in the modern age.
Don't get me wrong here, the French Revolution was a necessary thing at the time of its occurrence . The monarch was out of touch, the people were fed up with the institution of divine right, and the fruits of liberty had firmly taken seed in America. The spirit of freedom was in the air. So understandably, they wanted it and had just as much right to it as anyone.
But what started out as a noble endeavor, quickly turned into an out of control mob that began one of the bloodiest purges in European history. It was deemed such a success that it became a standard-bearing model of regime change in later years. The Bolsheviks used it, the Iranians used it, Cuba used it. The plan was simple, eliminate all enemies and take no prisoners. Do this, and your enemies cannot rise up against you despite the fact that you will kill much of your innocent brain power in the process.
Obviously, the overwhelming majority of French do not advocate using this method anymore. But deep within French society's collective psyche, there still appears to be a lawless element that wants to raise hell, when they do not get their way.
Because of this, we see business diplomacy and overall problem solving skills quickly eroding, not only in France but around the globe. It's easier to incite a riot and stir up the public, than to have a discussion. It's far simpler to unleash angry fury and acts of intimidation, than to utilize the art of persuasion to achieve an objective.
No wonder pirates are the reasserting their lawless authority on the high seas. It's hard to condemn the practice of hijacking ships and taking officials hostage, when a significant percentage of a leading civilized populace has an affinity for mob rule. It's also a pretty tough sell, when the government cannot get an internet piracy law passed.
Needless to say, I am disappointed. I thought the French wanted to be an example to the world. And believe it or not, with the current inept, corrupt, and morally bankrupt leadership in the U.S. government, the world needs a leader right about now. But if this poll is correct and 45% of the French people really do support illegal acts in these kinds of instances, I guess I thought wrong.
28 comments:
Hi LAS !
Only last night (Thursday) on TV the newsreader spoke about a poll that stated “only 7% of the French are in disagreement with the sequestrations". Mme Amerloque summed up the family’s thoughts on this as the subject was being shown, when she said “How can children not behave badly when they see this ? Is this the example ? Where is the rule of law ?” (sigh)
The Daily Telegraph makes no bones about it:
/// Scapa set to double payoffs to French workers who kidnapped British executives /// at http://tinyurl.com/cnpdks
The kidnappings / sitins are only the tip of the iceberg.
At least twice to Amerloque’s knowledge (he was exposed to quite a bit of French media while in hospital …), the workers really outdid themselves, in what the newspeople here in France termed “precise action”. Amerloque – and a whole passel of other folks, including Mme A, of course– call it 'environmental blackmail’.
On at least two separate occasions workers threatened to dump truly toxic products into major rivers and streams unless their “requests” were met.
Management called for help from the Prefect, who represents the government. The message was “Good luck, folks – you’ll have to handle this on your own, since if we send in the police, it will cause civil disorder”. (That, by the way, is the excuse very frequently invoked by the authorities when they refuse to evict a tenant who doesn’t pay rent, even though a court has ordered the eviction; this holds true for illegal aliens, too …). So management caved.
There have been the usual rolling electricity cutoffs this week. For the moment the press has not spoken of any deaths, but in October one death was in fact reported (backup generator didn’t work, so it wasn’t the trade unionists’ fault … !). Amerloque’s sources in the Paris Fire Department said that there was a near thing on Monday. (These same sources two years or so ago spoke publicly of ‘deaths’ due to an electricity strike. The government denied it … and was forced to backtrack on one when proof was supplied by one of the ambulances …)
One big question, which no one in authority seems cognizant of (at least, Amerloque has seen nothing in the media, nor has any French “business person” or “high civil servant” he has spoken with this week brought it up) is: do these workers think that foreign companies (especially American firms !) will be willing to locate manufacturing facilities here in France after they see events like these taking place ? Don’t the “workers” understand that this is the kind of thing that people – especially non-French business people - discuss over luncheon and dinner ?
They simply don’t “get” it, apparently. Or they just don’t care; the millions of euros spent by the French government and the various and sundry Chambers of Commerce to attract investment and job creation are wiped out by this kind of kidnapping and deportment.
When one thinks that the Ford Motor Company established a factory down near Bordeax in 1925 and that the assembly lines are being shut down as Ford pulls out … the world is changing …
Best,
L’Amerloque
Things seem to be getting worse in this regard. The worst I saw during my time there was truckers who protested by blocking highways with their rigs, causing massive gridlock. I remember thinking that if that happened here, all those idiots would be off to jail in no time.
This is just amazing. Will these kidnappers even be charged? They make fools out of themselves when they do stuff like this, and they make for embarrassing stories in foreign newspapers about "what goes on in France." Dumb.
"call it 'environmental blackmail’.
"On at least two separate occasions workers threatened to dump truly toxic products into major rivers and streams unless their “requests” were met."
Is this not an example of what the enviro-terrorist in this country have threatened and actually done by burning new construction, cars, SUV's etc? How long before it gets worse? Of course they may be waiting to see just how much the Chief Occupier can accomplish in Stockholm GW conferece before taking to the highways and byways again.
when we lived in Paris, the firemen completely closed the peripherique for hours..just parked fire trucks against the oncoming traffic...trash men wouldn't collect trash for weeks. And the French regard this as a kind of hobby or odd pasttime.."ah, well..c'est la vie". They're like mini revolutions they seem proud of or something? "Viva l'histoire"???
Spilling toxins into rivers? Are they CRAZY?
And now, when we have islamists licking their chops, watching the West implode with homegrown terrorists?......
And yes, how do we set examples for our children when adults behave like this. Every day, there are more and more terrible examples of what's happened to our world since we took out discipline, self respect, goodness and faith ..every single hour, here in America, there's some new atrocious news. We're bending to the worst amongst us. But, of course, we can't CALL them 'worst', GOD FORBID!, or we're bigots. herein lies the problem.
Things are definitely getting out of hand all over the world, but I see the other side too. What do you do when no wants to hear your debate, they don't care what you think or say they, the gov or big business, thinks they know whats best for you. Your rights are continually trampled and all the voting and protesting in the world is not going to change it. What do you do? It comes to a boiling point and people, especially Americans, are very likely to take matters into their hands. If they're not listening to me and my vote isn't changing anything, then I have no recourse except to throw the law aside and force a change.
Gerald Warner wrote a column in the Telegraph today; I sent you a link earlier today. I think he’s hit the nail on the head. He wrote, “Watch out, France and Co, there is a new surrender monkey on the block and, over the next four years, he will spectacularly sell out the interests of the West with every kind of liberal-delusionist initiative on nuclear disarmament and sitting down to negotiate with any power freak who wants to buy time to get a good ICBM fix on San Francisco, or wherever. If you thought the world was a tad unsafe with Dubya around, just wait until President Pantywaist gets into his stride.”
//On at least two separate occasions workers threatened to dump truly toxic products into major rivers and streams unless their “requests” were met.//
How anyone (on the left or right) could defend this kind of action is beyond me. But as long as the other laws are not enforced, why would anyone think they would be held responsible?
I don't think M. or Mme. Amerloque would like to know what LA would do to these pukes, if it were in HIS power to do so.
//Will these kidnappers even be charged? //
Hopefully. Amerloque will keep us informed to how this plays out.
//How long before it gets worse? //
We shall see. The word is out that the tea parties will be infiltrated by ACORN members. What their plan is, will be anyone's guess.
The real clincher will be the first time the new POTUS does not get his way. What will the radicals who support him do then?
//And yes, how do we set examples for our children when adults behave like this.//
Which is why I think each subsequent generation will devolve further into a lawless/anarchist society.
//What do you do when no wants to hear your debate, they don't care what you think or say they, the gov or big business, thinks they know whats best for you.//
What does a company owner do, when he can no longer afford to lose his ass off keeping a plant open? Should he be forced to keep losing money just so some lawless bastards can have a job?
//“Watch out, France and Co, there is a new surrender monkey on the block and, over the next four years,//
By the time Obama gets done surrendering the sovereignty of the US, by the time he gets done giving away everything that Iran, NK, Cuba, Venezuela, and other hostile nations demand, it will make France's resistance to the Nazis look like a fierce battle. At least the French surrendered because someone was driving tanks into their cities and towns.
The French just got one of their hostages killed off Somalia in a raid against the pirate crew that grabbed the French yacht.
Bully for them. Now if they would just take the same gutsy approach when these thugs take over the factories.
This is really nothing new. During the Algerian "resurrection" strikes and "hostage taking" was rampant in France until DeGualle stepped in and ended the "4th Republic" and started the 5th Republic. It used to be that the French changed governments as often as French prostitutes changed their underwear; once a week, whether they needed to or not.
Good post LASunsett!
Mr. Garrett took us all to the library today; our assignment was to look up the word sunset. Not one dictionary allows two t's.
So we think this blogger is giving young children a bad example. Now we know why so many kids grow up to be liberals.
Eric Cartman
SPE
//It used to be that the French changed governments as often as French prostitutes changed their underwear//
Hi GM,
I don't think they come close to Italy. In my lifetime, they have had way more than any other freely elected government.
Cartman you puke. You need to leave LA alone. He's one of the coolest old guys you will ever meet. Not like that shyster Mustang.
Marsh
SPE
Maybe if people started with the assumption that many of the French live in the Peter Pan syndrome thanks to a chastizing education (often by both parents and government)that strives to quarantine them in the infant mode then they can begin to see how this type of consensus is obtained. The French will be outraged at a thug that is getting beaten by the police until the tide turns and then commiserate with the police who may themselves be getting a beating.
I call it the oui..mais ..non.. society.(a very common interjection in France) Or the law of 3 nons. If you ask for something enough the person refusing you will usually cave in out of sheer frustration of refusing. Much a like a child parent relationship in the candy store. (One only has to go to a Carrefour here to watch it play out everyday)This relationship is perpetuated throughout the rest of their lives by an intrusive administration and everpresent government. (Thank god I can live outside the envelope)
This is because the French even though a "democracy" have not been able to break the active monarchy mentality where power is centered in the hands of one. Whether it be President or clerk at the post office.
Amerloque is absolutely right when he refers to the fact "since if we send in the police, it will cause civil disorder"
In spite of having one of the lowest numbers of unionized workers in Europe, French unions do exercise an ungodly amount of weight to ruin your day. The French take this with a grain of salt. Because
1. They are sheep and they don't revolt because their government would not react(yes even Sarkozy fears an enlargening of the conflict)So what's the point!
2. The media acts as collaborators with the unions through their nightly newcasts etc in order to maintain what is known here as "la paix sociale" or social peace.
There should really be no astonishment in reading this kind of poll. When you have spent serious time in this country and speak the language only then can you begin to fathom how the thought processes function. Cartesian logic then becomes just an excuse for immobilism.
//Cartesian logic then becomes just an excuse for immobilism.//
Is it any wonder that Descartes spent much of his life in the Netherlands, where most of his works were written? I know it was a different time and era. But many of the same attitudes and conditions still exist in France, which caused him to have more freedom to increase his knowledge, in Holland.
//This is because the French even though a "democracy" have not been able to break the active monarchy mentality where power is centered in the hands of one. Whether it be President or clerk at the post office.//
This helps explain the situation well. If what I am gathering from this statement is true, then it sounds like many of the French do not have any respect for ANY authority, unless the powers that be tell the people what they want to hear?
Hi LAS !
Coming back to the title of this post ("Conflict Resolution: The French Model"), the question at issue might profitably be somewhat restated: just what are the accepted methods of conflict resolution in France vs those in the United States of America ?
Immediately relevant - and upstream of that question- is the notion of which members of which unions - along with non-union members - are entitled to strike in both countries ? Just who is allowed to strike, and what are the limits ?
In the USA, legislation such as the National Railway Labor Act and Taylor Act prohibit strikes in certain circumstances. Some states ban walkouts and strikes by teachers, for example. (This goes along with other regulation of civil servants' activity, such as the Hatch Act, which forbids Federal civil servants from engaging in political activities while performing their duties. Nothing like that here !)
In France there are very few limits as to who can strike. As far as Amerloque knows, only armed forces personnel and gendarmes (it should be remembered that the gendarmerie is a military organization, like the Guardia Civil and the carabinieri in Spain and Italy respectively) are prohibited from striking and carrying out political activity. Everyone else can, including civil servants, employees of publicly-owned companies (not necessarily civil servant by job description status - jobs similar to, say, the USPS) and workers in the private sector.
What is the usual manner of union protest in both countries ? Naturally, picket lines are common to both, as are the usual work slowdowns, work-to-rule and outright stoppages. There is one basic question, though, which is addressed in a substantially different fashion in France than it is in the USA.
When union action is planned, threatened or undertaken, just who or what is the target ?
In the USA the goal of union action is designed - and perceived to be - to apply pressure on the employer, whether private or public. (One has only to remember one of the longer GM strikes in the '50s, of post-WW2 Teamsters, or the air controllers' strike at the beginning of Ronald Reagan's term, for example.) (Too, LAS spoke about Eugene V. Debs recently ... one might also have a thought for the French political theoretician Georges Sorel. Amerloque is quite surprised the no one in the USA seems to have referred to Sorel yet when commenting on the US conservative values-vs-Obama socialism issue ... Wiki is edifying about Sorel, by the way: "Sorel had been politically monarchist and traditionalist before embracing orthodox Marxism in the 1890s, but throughout his career continued to espouse values more commonly associated with conservatism." Amerloque digresses, and apologizes... but hopefully he has pushed Georges under a miniscule spotlight, for the mandatory fifteen minutes ... ).
Anyway, in France, the union pressure is almost always seen to be applied not only on the employer but on the government itself, so that the latter can intervene in a supposedly 'private' conflict to help resolve it. Hence, in a truckers' conflict here, which is no more than a severe disagreement between haulers and their (private) bosses, the drivers can and do use their rigs to block main roads and even freeways, so that the government feels it has to intervene to prevent civil disorder. The French teamsters are not simply bringing commerce and traffic to a halt - they are saying "The situation will be worse in a few days if we keep this up, so you folks in the government had better do something PDQ and lean on the bosses if you don't want the situation to become worse."
Same with civil servants: when one sees firemen and their enormous hook and ladder firefighting vehicles blocking major arteries in and around Paris, one understands that union pressure is simply being applied to the employer who is, in fact, the government, or an arm of the government such as the a département or a région. Ditto for trash collectors, who are either employed by some sort of municipal grouping (including, for example, from largest to smallest, a communauté urbaine, a communauté d'agglomération or a commune or even by some species of syndicat intercommunal (i.e. a water and/or waste removal grouping), or by a subcontracting private firm under the orders of a municipal grouping. The fact that normal citizens are inconvenienced (an Amerloquian euphemism !) doesn't really matter. Firemen can hardly refrain from putting out fires as a union protest, after all !
(There is the subsidiary question of French law about non assistance à personne en danger aka abstention volontaire de porter assistance à une personne en péril. - "not assisting a person in danger" -, which is basically a Good Samaritan Act: one cannot legally ignore a person having a heart attack on the pavement, for example, nor can a doctor drive past a road accident without stopping ... individuals can and do receive a prison sentence for this ... Amerloque fell on the sidewalk, once, and was impressed by the number of people who rushed to help ... ).
(Another subsidiary question is the role of government in France and in the USA, what people expect of government and, equally importantly, how they see themselves in relation to their own government.)
One will also see transport workers going on strike at intervals (all too frequently, according to recent surveys among the public), as well as the state electricity employees "striking" by cutting the juice from time to time. Again, the fact that normal citizens are inevitably affected is somewhat secondary, in the French mind.
Why could this be ?
A great part of the answer is that in France there is a famous locution: défendre son bifteck, translated as defending one's beefsteak, a rather graphic way of saying "defending one's interests". Almost always one will hear ils défendent leur bifteckwhen one asks "How do you feel about all the electricity / transport / trucker strikes ?". "They're defending their beefsteaks !", replies the French man or woman philosophically.
Each French person knows that when her or his turn to bi/ch or demonstrate or strike comes around, other French people will give that very same answer, word for word; no one will be particularly bent out of shape about it. One is used to it, and, if one is a foreigner and/or unversed in the ways of France, one remembers the old saw about "When in Rome ...".
Amerloque's unfavorable comments above dealt with two specific union-driven actions: kidnapping bosses (aka "bossnapping") and "environmental blackmail". Both he and Mme Amerloque are not happy about them: they are very unhappy. That is because the limits of currently consensual union protest are being pushed back quite a bit and have now moved into a realm in which it might be dangerous to venture.
Even French union members are worrying about this; the press has been filled with articles about the kidnappings; union leaders are quoted as saying "We are not delinquents !" (Nous ne sommes pas des voyous !. The government and the main employers' organization (the MEDEF) have come out clearly and strongly against séquestrations. (No one seems to have addressed the issue of environmental blackmail this week, at least publicly.)
Amerloque's initial comments here about the incessant rolling electricity cutoffs should undoubtedly have given more emphasis to the resultant death(s) and the unwillingness of the authorities to deal with such, rather than to Amerloque's implied disapproval. After all, depriving a person of life itself cannot really be construed as defending one's beefsteak within the framework of union activities, to Amerloque's way of thinking. (sigh)
Amerloque, though, really doesn't have a much of a problem with the transport strikes or the garbage workers' strikes or the electricity strikes (as long as there are no deaths ...). He firmly believes in the "When in Rome" principle. (grin) It usually takes some "getting used to" for Americans, though (wider grin).
All of the simply demonstrates that sometimes what is acceptable in France is quite unacceptable in the USA, and rightly so.
It goes both ways, of course. Throughout the history of the Republic, the condition of workers in America was generally improved, at the end of the day, thanks to union-led strikes. Salaries and wages were increased, working hours reduced, safety regulations reinforced. One cannot underestimate the benefits granted to strikers in the USA over the years. The problem is that nowadays some have the tendency to want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. (sigh) Perhaps there should be another look at the raison d'être of unions in the USA, given that the world has changed quite a bit since the times of Sorel and Debs.
LAS has asked how it will all play out. Given all the above paragraphs, Amerloque's answer is facile - and probably unsatisfactory: things'll simply muddle on like they've been muddling on for years. The need for beefsteak and the need to defend it have not diminished, by any means. (sigh)
Things might even degenerate for two reasons. The first is that the economic crisis is really beginning to take hold here in France, after having swept through Eastern Europe. A lot of restaurants and shops are virtually empty, bereft of diners and customers. The press is filled with moneysaving tips for readers (but nothing new, though, for those who like Amerloque were raised in '50s and '60s by parents who had lived through the Great Depression, or like Mme Amerloque, who was raised in a small French town until the age of ten in a house without hot running water, central heating and TV). Beefsteak is nowadays more expensive ... objectively and subjectively.
The second reason - and it's just as crucial, in Amerloque's view - is that some time ago, in 2008, President Sarkozy publicly said, when ridiculing the unions, Quand il y a une grève on ne s'en aperçoit plus. (literally "When there is a strike one no longer notices it" and more colloquially "No one pays attention to strikes anymore.") French unions (some quite radical, even for France) are certainly determined to make him eat his words (they surface at regular intervals in the media, in the mouths of union leaders interviewed on TV and radio), and one wonders if the kidnappings and environmental blackmail are part of the plan to prove Sarko wrong, at his - and the French bosses', and the French citizens' - expense.
Oh, yes, there's always a particularly French imponderable: if April, May and June are sunny, there might be "events". Yet another difference from the USA. (grin)
Happy Easter, LAS ! Happy Easter, All !
Best,
L'Amerloque
//the union pressure is almost always seen to be applied not only on the employer but on the government itself, so that the latter can intervene in a supposedly 'private' conflict to help resolve it. //
I think that so much can be said about this. But not to worry Amerloque, this may become the norm here too. Internalizing government as a nanny, a care-giver who is most certainly co-dependent, will most likely yield this kind of action when large groups want to get their way under Obama. This comes from the populist urge to conduct business using polls as a reference source for their decsisons.
//The first is that the economic crisis is really beginning to take hold here in France, after having swept through Eastern Europe. A lot of restaurants and shops are virtually empty, bereft of diners and customers. //
Naturally we don't get many features from France here, we are more apt to see Europe's stories through the eyes of the Brits. And I just saw a feature on one of the networks about a significant amount of local pub closings in the UK. It seems that many locales have been left without what is a central place in the social foundations of Europe. In Germany it's the Gasthaus and in France it's the cafe.
Have you seen the same thing where you are?
//The second reason - and it's just as crucial, in Amerloque's view - is that some time ago, in 2008, President Sarkozy publicly said, when ridiculing the unions, Quand il y a une grève on ne s'en aperçoit plus. (literally "When there is a strike one no longer notices it" and more colloquially "No one pays attention to strikes anymore.") French unions (some quite radical, even for France) are certainly determined to make him eat his words (they surface at regular intervals in the media, in the mouths of union leaders interviewed on TV and radio), and one wonders if the kidnappings and environmental blackmail are part of the plan to prove Sarko wrong, at his - and the French bosses', and the French citizens' - expense.//
Interesting. Again we get little from France, except when Sarkozy and Obama are involved in the type-setting and sound bites. This is where I think it becomes very critical, critical in that we cannot allow this kind of thing to get out of hand. When people's safety and well-being are at stake, it changes the entire equation.
Holding anyone against their will is criminal and the civilized world would do well to stop this now, before it moves to the next level, which is bodily harm of sequestered. Like you say, things that cause inconvenience are one thing, this and environmental blackmail are quite another.
Happy Easter to you and Mme Amerloque.
Amerloque said
"In France there are very few limits as to who can strike. As far as Amerloque knows, only armed forces personnel and gendarmes (it should be remembered that the gendarmerie is a military organization,"
Yet that did not stop them (gendarmes)several years ago under the reign of ChiracII to stage a mass "sick out" where in fact their wives went into the street in their place to protest low salaries and harsh working conditions for their husbands while they stayed away from work. Utter nonsense!
"Naturally, picket lines are common to both, as are the usual work slowdowns, work-to-rule and outright stoppages."
In the case of a protest march there is a pretraced route but in the case of a protest in front of an office etc there are absolutely no limitations on the protestors. Hence hostage taking as we have seen
"Hence, in a truckers' conflict here, which is no more than a severe disagreement between haulers and their (private) bosses, the drivers can and do use their rigs to block main roads and even freeways, so that the government feels it has to intervene to prevent civil disorder."
May I add
With gendarmes actually bringing sandwiches to the truckers engaged in a totally illegal blockade which stranded many people and even young babies (who need to be hydrated regularly)in their cars under sweltering conditions. France received a warning on this from the EU. (as if they could care!)
"Amerloque, though, really doesn't have a much of a problem with the transport strikes or the garbage workers' strikes or the electricity strikes (as long as there are no deaths ...)."
But how much do you absolutely need to move around by public transport to feed your family?
I have got a major problem with these kind of strikes and I have spent the last 6 years rearranging my professional life so in fact I depend very little on anything French controlled except the supermarket and the corner café (which is Portuguese owned).
The poor man/woman who comes in from the suburbs may not agree with your tolerance of rail strikes.
These civil servant people have cradle to grave protection albeit for a lower salary than in the private sector. We pay their salaries through our inflated taxes and we the taxpayer are expected to shut our mouths. I regret to say these people should look for another job if they are not happy just as I and millions of private sector individuals have done in their lives.(happy to have worked for myself in France and created two companies) I personally don't feel I owe them a living and as we say in Spanish "me importa un bledo sus problemas"
I could care less about their problems.
But they won't because as I mentioned in an earlier post the relation is totally parasitic with the state. Like children with their parents
Christ! They even strike at McDonalds here in France. Who strikes at a MCDonalds. It's a 6 month job for pocket money and then you look for real work.
As per bossnapping
http://tinyurl.com/d8zkux
Sorry but it is in French and basically says that 3 managers at the Faurecia company (a car parts subcontracter which I may add has just received state support because it is near collapse)were "retained" for 5 hours Thursday evening.
I quote one of the hostage takers
« Retenu » mais pas « séquestré », insistait hier un représentant du personnel, ajoutant : « Il n’a pas demandé à sortir. » Joint brièvement sur place, le dirigeant confirmait.
"Retained but not sequestered said a personnel representative. He (director)did not ask to leave which the director confirmed to be true."
This reminds me eerily of the old "responsable mais pas coupable" plea "responsible but not guilty" of the Minister Georgina Dufoix during the tainted aids blood scandal in France which ended in the deaths of several of transfused patients all because the government was trying to save money by not using new aids detecting machinery which happened to be American made)when they knew the hospitals were injecting deadly blood into people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infected_blood_scandal_(France)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/293367.stm
re: above
Yes, but any director in France will downplay this kind of activity in order to not fan the flames. I even saw one on Tv about 5 years ago who praised the taste of the sandwiches he was brought during his sequestration.
Another consideration is that Friday was the start of a long Easter weekend so sequestration ends when vacation begins in France or as the great Charles Pasqua former Minister of the Interior once said. (He was also impliquated in the Iran food for oil scandal)
"Democracy ends where the state begins"
In any case the hostage takers got no concessions from the company and all of the news reports the next day were oriented on how the poor hostage takers got nothing in return.
Just remember one simple thing about France. No one is guilty of anything and no one apologises as if you may not ahve already noticed.
As the French child says when he/she knocks a glass off the table.
"The glass just fell"
http://tinyurl.com/cf3lzk
This should have been urged weeks ago.
Hi LAS !
LAS ///Naturally we don't get many features from France here, we are more apt to see Europe's stories through the eyes of the Brits. And I just saw a feature on one of the networks about a significant amount of local pub closings in the UK. It seems that many locales have been left without what is a central place in the social foundations of Europe. In Germany it's the Gasthaus and in France it's the cafe.
Have you seen the same thing where you are? ///
Oh, yes, the cafés in France have been dying for years.
Something like two or three close up every day, and at least one does in Paris ! Per day ! A lot of pubs and cafés have become unnecessary, since social behavior has changed: long commutes to work in "industrial parks", for example. TV. "Shopping" in a "consumer society".
Restaurants are closing, too. No more two-hour lunches, no more company expense accounts, and the advent of "fast food" have put paid, as the British say, to many eating establishments ... far fewer small traditional restaurants in France ... and the traditional "High Streets" are closing down fast in the UK, if the British press is to be believed ...
Best,
L'Amerloque
Hello Rocket !
A /// "In France there are very few limits as to who can ...///
R /// Yet that did not stop them (gendarmes)several years ago under the reign of Chirac II to stage a mass "sick out" ...///
Yes. This took place just before the 2002 elections, under the Socialist Prime Minister Jospin. It contributed in no small measure to his coming in third in the first round of the presidential election, which meant he was eliminated from the runoff two weeks later. Those interested in France will recall that it was in this election that Jean-Marie Le Pen came in second place in the initial round.
A /// "Hence, in a truckers' conflict here .../...
R /// With gendarmes actually bringing sandwiches to the truckers engaged in a totally illegal blockade which stranded many people and even young babies (who need to be hydrated regularly)in their cars under sweltering conditions. France received a warning on this from the EU. (as if they could care!) ...///
These truckers' strikes were when the Amerloque family stopped donating to the French Red Cross. There were at least two venues (shown on TV) where the Red Cross was distributing food to the strikers. It has always been Amerloque's understanding that the Red Cross intervenes in the event of natural disaster or catastrophe, and not in the case of political action (whether Ameroque agrees with it or not, cf the American Red Cross's actions over the past decade). Since that day neither Mme Amerloque nor Amerloque have given a centime to the French Red Cross: the Amerloque family's charitable donations in France are divided into two parts: the Order of Malta (yes, the faith-based organization which has been around for hundreds of years and whose administrators take no money for doing their jobs) and various animal protection societies.
A /// "Amerloque, though, really doesn't have a much of a problem with the transport strikes ... ///
R /// But how much do you absolutely need to move aroundby public transport to feed your family?///
Amerloque used to take public transport frequently but in recent years has arranged his "workload", such as it is, so that he really doesn't have to. Amerloque "works" from home. Note that the lack of transport time has substantially increased "productivity". (wide grin)
R /// I have got a major problem with these kinds of strikes and I have spent the last 6 years rearranging my professional life so in fact I depend very little on anything French controlled except the supermarket and the corner café (which is Portuguese owned). ...///
R /// ... regret to say these people should look for another job if they are not happy just as I and millions of private sector individuals have done in their lives.(happy to have worked for myself in France and created two companies) ...///
The transport workers défendent leur bifteck more than most. (wide wide grin)
Amerloque doesn't see why anyone would want to come to France to make "a lot" of money. So he is assuming that Rocket just wants to earn a decent living ... and enjoy France and its lifestyle. (grin) France is far from being a 100% "capitalist" country - it is "socialistic", which suits the French very well. It's their country, after all (grin).
(For simplicity's sake Amerloque here has opposed "capitalism" and "socialism", knowing full well that "capitalism" is simply a form of behavior, while "socialism" is a form of government. That's one of the major - and eliminatory - analytical errors of the "Left" ... (wider grin)).
Of course there are forms of "capitalistic" behavior here in France, but that "capitalism" is channeled and controlled far, far more than in the USA ... which is why the French are always going on about capitalisme sauvage (Amerloque prefers the locution "untrammeled capitalism" rather than the "wild capitalism" so prevalent in the English-speaking media, invented by people who apparently are unfamiliar with the nuances of the French language ...).
The work ethic here is "Roman Catholic", not "Protestant" ... How many thousands of French men and women have gone (voluntarily, of course, which excludes the Edict of Nantes a while back) outside of France over the years, to earn their various millions, and then return to France to enjoy the quality of life ? If one wants to make millions, one should probably go to England or the United States or the Australia but certainly not come to France to be an "entrepreneur". (Amerloque and Mme in their times founded several companies here SARLs, SAs and SNC ... and sold them along after three to five years or so, when they were up and running to the satisfaction of all concerned, including the tax people...)
Of course all of this is only a matter of personal opinion, but it goes a long way to explaining why Amerloque is very much against "modernizing the country" (by taking the worst of the US model, for example) and turning France into a relatively mindless consumer society. Just because other countries are consumer societies doesn't mean that France should be. (grin)
Is rocket living in France to make a lot of money ? (no sarcasm intended !)
R: /// Christ! They even strike at McDonalds here in France. Who strikes at a MCDonalds. It's a 6 month job for pocket money and then you look for real work. ...///
Most assuredly not in France, at least in Amerloque's experience.
In America, working in a fast food establishment might be considered to be in an after-school job or a gas money job, or some kind of "temp" job, but in France it is much more, for several reasons.
The first is the lasting high unemployment rate. Any job is acceptable (even a petit boulot, i.e., odd job, such as burger flipper). All jobs in France fall under the purview of the French labor laws (no "States" here ...) . There cannot be one law relating to "companies" and another law relating to "fast food personnel": the latter are rightly considered to be "restaurant/catering workers" and so fall under the relevant collective bargaining agreement(s). It apparently turns out that MacDo is not applying the agreement(s) correctly in some places, especially insofar as working hours are concerned ... so the workers go out on strike.
Another reason, of course, is the fact that MacDo is in fact an equal opportunity employer. Last time Amerloque went personally to a fast food emporium, he saw many, many black and brown faces behind the counters. The kids from the projects have found fast food establishments to be one place where they can show off what they are capable of, where they're employed and promoted according to what they can do, not who they are or to what their address is.
Being in a "union" and "going on strike" are both traditional French political experiences: what more natural than for the unions to target the project kids at the MacDos and teach them about (traditional French) strikes ? The kids are being "integrated" into French culture ... although the politicians really didn't expect it to happen in this fashion, by a long shot (grin).
R /// As per bossnapping ...///
R /// This reminds me eerily of the old "responsable mais pas coupable" plea "responsible but not guilty" Minister Georgina Dufoix during the tainted aids blood scandal in France which ended in the deaths of several of transfused patients ///
Yes, Amerloque thought of the very same thing. (grin) There were not just several deaths - there were several hundred, if not thousands (depends, as usual, on what side one listens to ...) . Only one doctor carried the can for everyone, while all the functionaries went off scot free. Amerloque knew two people who received contaminated blood; one died. Dufoix, to all intents and purposes, destroyed the Red Cross in France. Mme Amerloque was so disgusted that she stopped volunteering ...
R: /// as the great Charles Pasqua former Minister of the Interior once said. (He was also impliquated in the Iran food for oil scandal) ///
Actually he did a lot of jobs that no "respectable" politician would have touched with a ten-foot pole. He, and his right-hand man, Marchiani, negotiated for the liberation of French hostages in Lebanon several years ago. Marchiani was recently sentenced to four years in prison for corruption, but part of the sentence was commuted because of his "services rendered to the Republic". Amerloque is not fond of Pasqua for what he did with the Paris taxi drivers/medallions. Before him, they were free of charge and could not be transferred. Now they cost serious money, and can be bought and sold (Pasqua's buddy, who own G7, made a pile !). (If the press is to be believed, the jerk Mayor of San Francisco is currently planning to do the same thing ... )
R ///" As the French child says when he/she knocks a glass off the table.
"The glass just fell" ///
A: Amerloque has been more exposed to Je ne l'ai pas fait exprès !" (I didn't do it on purpose !) (grin)
Best,
Amerloque
"Amerloque used to take public transport frequently but in recent years has arranged his "workload", such as it is, so that he really doesn't have to. Amerloque "works" from home. Note that the lack of transport time has substantially increased "productivity". (wide grin)"
I also work mostly from home (or as my wife says from the couch in front of the television).
Before I was racking up 50,000km per year (loved that "forfait kilometrage" to reduce the tax burden). Not to mention trips to the US and England for business.
Working at home also does wonders for price per hour average!
"Is rocket living in France to make a lot of money ? (no sarcasm intended !)"
Niche market! Me lad! Niche market! I can't work in other European countries unless you can find the "faille" "in Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents."
Madame is American.
Tried Spain a few years ago but the answers from lawyers were so unclear that I gave up.
Unless Amerloque would like to spend several hours researching this for me(Chuckle)
"A: Amerloque has been more exposed to Je ne l'ai pas fait exprès !" (I didn't do it on purpose !) (grin)"
So true!
C'est pas de ma faute, quoi!
Hello LAS !
This morning (090417) Sky News reports on pub closings in the United Kingdom:
/// Pub Crisis Sparks Calls For Beer Tax Freeze
12:06am UK, Friday April 17, 2009
Darren Little, Midlands correspondent
Publicans are warning that 60,000 jobs in the industry could be lost in the next five years if the rate of pub closures continues.
((Pic - Derelict pub in Liverpool
Boarded-up pubs, like this one in Liverpool, are frequently vandalized))
Currently 39 pubs a week are closing every week.
Since last April more than 2,000 have closed and a campaign is now growing which calls on the Government to rethink planned tax rises on beer in next week's budget.
Many of our towns and cities are now littered with empty pubs, some derelict, others boarded up.
In Stafford, former chain pubs in the heart of the town now lie empty and on the outskirts many other older pubs which have recently closed have been abandoned.
Mike Harker, the local Camra rep told Sky News: "A lot of people are employed in the pub trade, also in the brewing trade, the supply industry to it and transportation. All sorts of factors come in to supporting the local pub.
"Also, when a pub closes, it can bring the whole community into a sort of disrepair - it attracts vandalism and all sorts of things."
Publicans blame a number of factors for the decline; cheap supermarket alcohol, the smoking ban and the tax rises - the average price of a pint has risen by 14p in the last year.
One deserted pub in Stafford, the Rifleman, still has its promotional boards outside advertising special deals of £2 a pint, prices which are still nowhere near the deals on offer in the supermarkets.
Fran Clark has been in the trade all her working life and now runs the Lamb in Stafford, which is across the road from a large Sainsbury's supermarket.
She told Sky News something needs to be done.
"The Government isn't doing us any favours - none whatsoever with the way that they are treating us.
"Do they want all the pubs closed down? You're going to end up with licensees who are homeless, children who are homeless, people who are bankrupt.
"The Government then won't get the duty on the beer, they aren't going to get the tax."
Pubs may be part of an ancient tradition, but protesters are turning to the web for help.
Sites like "Axe the Tax" are gaining momentum, calling on people to email the Chancellor and lobby for a freezing of the duty on beer.
However, pubs have been in decline for many years now and it won't be easy to turn that around.
Meanwhile, the public house casualties of that social change, with their boarded up or broken windows and abandoned seats, are becoming ever more common all over Britain. ///
http://tinyurl.com/cqbkkk
Best,
L’Amerloque
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