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by John Edmundson Starting on December 5th, 2019 workers in the Parisian rail network commenced an open-ended strike in opposition to French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed changes to their pension scheme. Rail workers in the Metro Underground have, for decades, had retirement conditions that compensate them for the low wages, unhealthy work environment and antisocial hours that come with their jobs. Driving trains in the Underground rail network means spending hours of every workday under the ground and so the workers are seldom able to even see the sun. It is well documented that this is not good for human health. In addition, working in the Metro means frequently working antisocial hours due to the requirement for shift work. Shift work is of course, another contributor to poor health outcomes. Macron, who ran for office as a “political outsider”, neither right nor left and uncontaminated by the mistrust many French workers have for the dominant mainstream Parties, came into politics from the world of finance, claiming that he would surmount traditional political divisions and lead France from the centre, devoid of the ideology he claimed cripples the French political system. Since assuming office, Macron has continued the sort of austerity policies familiar to many throughout the Western world, attempting to shift more costs onto French workers, while forcing them to work longer into what should have been their retirement years. French Metro drivers can, in theory, retire at 50.8 years because for decades, the drivers’ union has protected early retirement as a means of compensating the drivers for the poor working conditions that they endure. Despite this, low pay means that often the drivers work almost five more years than that, retiring on average at 55.5 years. Most other employees of RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens, the state owned transport provider) are eligible to retire at 55.8 years, administrative staff at 60.8 years. This is not acceptable to the employer (the State) or the government. Macron wants to push through a “one size fits all” pension plan that would raise the retirement age for all workers to 62 years, irrespective of the working conditions or previously negotiated terms and conditions. The strike has continued well into January, making it https://rdln.wordpress.com/2020/01/13/french-transport-workers-take-on-macron-over-pension-reform/ _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
