15-04-2023, 03:58 PM
Macron is behaving like a dictator. The hated reforms have been signed into law. Claims that there's no alternative are all very well but you have to wonder if their govt has even considered cutting back on other things instead, since they must be aware that this is likely to cause hardship & may lose them any election in future.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65279818
"After the Friday ruling of the Constitutional Court, trade unions made an unsuccessful last-ditch appeal to the president not to sign the pension-age increase into law.
The unions pointed out that six concessions that had been added to the reforms were rejected by the court, so what was already unfair was now "even more unbalanced".
Among the reforms struck down by the nine members of the Constitutional Council was a so-called "senior index" aimed at urging companies with more than 1,000 workers to take on employees over 55.
Mr Dussopt has vowed to improve the employment rates of those aged over 50 in an effort to ease concerns about the financial impacts of the raised retirement age.
The authorities had banned demonstrations in front of the Constitutional Council building in Paris until Saturday morning, but crowds of protesters had gathered nearby on Friday and the ruling was met with jeers."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64986741
"What this crisis goes to show," veteran political commentator Alain Duhamel said recently, "is that there are two Frances out there. They live in completely separate mental worlds, and find it impossible even to communicate."
As the country teeters on the edge of civil unrest, his verdict echoes like a gloomy premonition. France's demons are back, and stalking the land.
The anger and mutual incomprehension over President Emmanuel Macron's proposed reform of the pension age show how dangerously polarised the two factions have become.
The government says pushing back the pension age from 62 to 64 is vital in order to preserve France's much-prized "share-out" system - based on a single fund that workers pay into and pensioners draw out of.
With people living longer, the only alternatives would be to cut the value of pensions, or increase contributions from those in work.
And both those options would be even more unpopular.
Following the president's invocation of the 49:3 procedure, opposition parties have tabled two censure motions against the government which will be debated this week. In theory, if one of them passes that would lead to the fall of the government, and possible early elections."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65279818
"After the Friday ruling of the Constitutional Court, trade unions made an unsuccessful last-ditch appeal to the president not to sign the pension-age increase into law.
The unions pointed out that six concessions that had been added to the reforms were rejected by the court, so what was already unfair was now "even more unbalanced".
Among the reforms struck down by the nine members of the Constitutional Council was a so-called "senior index" aimed at urging companies with more than 1,000 workers to take on employees over 55.
Mr Dussopt has vowed to improve the employment rates of those aged over 50 in an effort to ease concerns about the financial impacts of the raised retirement age.
The authorities had banned demonstrations in front of the Constitutional Council building in Paris until Saturday morning, but crowds of protesters had gathered nearby on Friday and the ruling was met with jeers."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64986741
"What this crisis goes to show," veteran political commentator Alain Duhamel said recently, "is that there are two Frances out there. They live in completely separate mental worlds, and find it impossible even to communicate."
As the country teeters on the edge of civil unrest, his verdict echoes like a gloomy premonition. France's demons are back, and stalking the land.
The anger and mutual incomprehension over President Emmanuel Macron's proposed reform of the pension age show how dangerously polarised the two factions have become.
The government says pushing back the pension age from 62 to 64 is vital in order to preserve France's much-prized "share-out" system - based on a single fund that workers pay into and pensioners draw out of.
With people living longer, the only alternatives would be to cut the value of pensions, or increase contributions from those in work.
And both those options would be even more unpopular.
Following the president's invocation of the 49:3 procedure, opposition parties have tabled two censure motions against the government which will be debated this week. In theory, if one of them passes that would lead to the fall of the government, and possible early elections."
in order to be old & wise, you must first be young & stupid. (I'm still working on that.)
