Originally posted by KazetNagorraYou said in a previous post that you didn't work. Now you say you work 40 hr per week. If you are working in the Physics department at school without pay that's good. Working at studying, however, is not a Job no matter how you want to spin words.
Why do you believe anyone who is capable of working (more) should? I surely don't believe so, nor have I ever stated I do. I work 40 hours per week, but don't get paid yet. I don't see anything wrong with that.
GRANNY.
Originally posted by KazetNagorraFrench workers are highly pampered regarding time off. They have 5 weeks paid holidays PLUS since the work week is "officially" 35 hours (but most people work 40), people take the extra time as extra holidays -- about 1.5 RTT days/month or another 18 days on the year.
This has little to do with the credit crisis, though. Striking and protesting are part of French worker culture, they've been doing it for decades in good and bad times.
Add it up and that's over 8 weeks vacation.
The right to strike is in the French constitution. So once or twice a year each union agrees they are "fed up" and decides to show the government that they cannot be pushed around. So they announce a one-day "action".
France is not "a country that works" ... in any sense of the word.
Originally posted by spruce1123588 Weeks is not that much compared to western European standards, it's just that Americans have very little time off, possibly due to the fact that there has never been a significant union movement in the US.
French workers are highly pampered regarding time off. They have 5 weeks paid holidays PLUS since the work week is "officially" 35 hours (but most people work 40), people take the extra time as extra holidays -- about 1.5 RTT days/month or another 18 days on the year.
Add it up and that's over 8 weeks vacation.
The right to strike is in the French ...[text shortened]... one-day "action".
France is not "a country that works" ... in any sense of the word.
Originally posted by KazetNagorraYou don't seem very well-informed about the present situation in France. Here's a link that might help: http://www.france24.com/en/20090318-france-strike-job-cuts-public-private-sector-financial-crisis-support
This has little to do with the credit crisis, though. Striking and protesting are part of French worker culture, they've been doing it for decades in good and bad times.
Excerpts: Labour unions called for strike action to protest ongoing restructuring and job cuts in the public and private sectors across the country.
At least 74 percent of the population supports the movement, according to a French poll (link in French) published in the French financial daily Les Echos on Tuesday.
Originally posted by no1marauderHow does this refute what I was saying?
You don't seem very well-informed about the present situation in France. Here's a link that might help: http://www.france24.com/en/20090318-france-strike-job-cuts-public-private-sector-financial-crisis-support
Excerpts: Labour unions called for strike action to protest ongoing restructuring and job cuts in the public and private sectors a ...[text shortened]... o a French poll (link in French) published in the French financial daily Les Echos on Tuesday.
Originally posted by KazetNagorraIt's higher than most...
8 Weeks is not that much compared to western European standards, it's just that Americans have very little time off, possibly due to the fact that there has never been a significant union movement in the US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_statutory_minimum_employment_leave_by_country
Originally posted by no1marauderWell said No1 !!
This is a phony dichotomy. That the rich run the government in the US is a given. But that shouldn't make them objects of sympathy when the government, in response to overwhelming popular demand, insist that something be done to stop them from the further theft of society's resources done to the detriment of the rest of its members.
When I ...[text shortened]... sense about how "unfair" the AIG clowns were treated, I can only laugh at your foolishness.
Originally posted by KazetNagorraIt may not be extravagant but it is perceptible to any multinational company with a French office -- those birds always seem to be off!
Yes, it's more than average, but not extravagantly so.
Everything takes longer in France, and such a perception, along with the endless strikes, has created an image of France as an unfavorable place to start a business or invest in. In a world of global markets, that is a very dangerous image).
But the French are starting to notice how high the salaries are in Switzerland and Germany; and they notice that more Brits and Russians than French, it seems, can afford to ski in the French Alps.
However, as no1 has pointed out, the French have not gone as far as being willing to do something about being more competitive.
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Originally posted by spruce112358I can't find any statistics on the web that indicates that French workers are paid significantly less than other continental EU countries like Germany. Perhaps you could provide some evidence to support your assertions.
It may not be extravagant but it is perceptible to any multinational company with a French office -- those birds always seem to be off!
Everything takes longer in France, and such a perception, along with the endless strikes, has created an image of France as an unfavorable place to start a business or invest in. In a world of global markets, that is ...[text shortened]... , the French have not gone as far as being willing to do something about being more competitive.
I see no evidence that France is "less competitive" than other EU countries. Again, have you anything other than your opinion to support this?