3.5 million march in france v. austerity budget

[Hannah Bell]

An estimated 3.5 million workers and students marched nationwide in France yesterday in a day of action called to oppose pension cuts demanded by President Nicolas Sarkozy. Though the most critical provisions of the pension “reform” have been passed—a two-year increase in the retirement age and a corresponding increase in the pay-in period—the law has yet to be formally voted on by the Senate...

While it had been reported that the Senate would postpone its final vote on the bill until Thursday, and possibly delay the vote even further, some media outlets were reporting that the vote could take place today, as originally scheduled...

According to one report, managers secretly arrived by boat at a struck oil depot in Le Havre to restart kerosene shipments to Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport. Workers warned that they could not guarantee that the managers would be able to safely operate the equipment to produce kerosene. At a Caen oil depot police broke through workers’ barricades with a bulldozer, after which trucks arrived to haul away supplies...

The press is citing in threatening terms the legal measures available for use against blockades. Le Monde cited lawyers claiming that workers could face immediate dismissal without severance pay. According to the press, high school students could face immediate suspension, 3 years imprisonment and €45,000 fines if they participate in a blockade at a school that is not their own...

CGT official Nadine Prigent told Agence France-Presse: “It’s not a done deal that a Senate will calm things down.” The UNSA (National Union of Autonomous Trade Unions) warned: “No one knows what effect that vote will have.”

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/fran-o20.shtml

[Starry Messenger]

1. k & r

[blindpig]

2. Solidarity

be strong

[leftstreet]

3. K&R

PARIS - OCTOBER 19: Workers and students demonstrate on October,19, 2010 in Paris, France. President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age to 62 has prompted Oil workers to protest crippling the transport system and triggering gas shortages. Students are also attending demonstrations and have in some cases barricaded entrances to schools.


My french sucks...anyone know what this means, aside from literally?
"Young people in the gallery, the old in misery"

Gallery?

[Hannah Bell]

4. can also mean "galley". guessing more like, "The old in misery, the young in the galley"

(as in, rowing the slave ship or working in the kitchen)

[leftstreet]

5. Oh, duh

Exactly! 'galley'

[reggie the dog]

11. the old in misery as the young struggle

"c'est la galère " means things are tough

so you could read it as old people in misery and things are tough all over for the youth

[reggie the dog]

12. galère is slang for struggle

old people living in misery, youth struggling to get by is a good translation, and if you see the green banner for SUD, that is my union, we are hard left...... i am so damn proud to see high school kids out protesting, by the way i am a high school teacher

[leftstreet]

15. ..

Thanks!

And yeah, looking through ap photos I'm seeing LOTS of those banners

:thumbsup:

[TBF]

6. The French are fighting for all our benefits - article in the Guardian

Sarkozy should retire, says France
By taking to the streets to defend their pension rights from regressive cuts, the French are fighting for all our benefits

The demonstrations that have rocked France this past week highlight some of its differences from the United States. The photo here, for example shows the difference between rioting in baseball-playing versus soccer-playing countries. In the US, we would pick up the tear gas canister and throw it, rather than kick it, back at the police.

More importantly, the French have decided to take to the streets in the millions – including large-scale strikes and work stoppages – to defend hard-won retirement gains. (It must be emphasised, since the media sometimes forgets to make the distinction, that only a tiny percentage of France's demonstrators have engaged in any kind of property damage and even fewer in violence, with all but these few protesting peacefully.) French populist rage is being directed in a positive direction – unlike in the United States where it is most prominently being mobilised to elect political candidates who will do their best to increase the suffering of working- and middle-class citizens...

More at the link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/20/france-protest

[reggie the dog]

14. LMFAO

In the US, we would pick up the tear gas canister and throw it, rather than kick it, back at the police.!!!

I love seeing unionists hiding their faces and blocking shit! fuck the govt! this is anarcho syndicalism in action!!!!!

[Rex]

7. The French are truly awesome people!

Viva La France!

[BolivarianHero]

8. 1968?

Wait. The stupid commies are too busy bitching about Halal meat to overthrow the French bourgeoisie.

[reggie the dog]

13. the communists are not bitching about Halal meat

that is the ultra right wing FN

1968 was the year in which there were large protests for months which led the president to retire early......

[BolivarianHero]

16. Not entirely true...

http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2010/10/18/france-hamburger-chains-decision-sparking-tensions-over-islam

Jacqueline Rouillon, the Communist mayor of Saint-Ouen near Paris, said she planned to contact other mayors in towns where Quick restaurants have gone halal to see whether they can organize joint negotiations, with the goal of forcing the firm to maintain a choice.

[reggie the dog]

17. ah

but she does not want to ban selling halal, she just wants to make sure they have non halal for the ??? oh what the fuck i eat halal meat and i am an athiest, i eat kosher food too, what a shitty communist, st ouen is a good place to get hash, go to the flea market and ask around or just go up the the big high rise housing projects, dont pay over 50 euros for 10 grams of afghan black or 40 euros for morocan blonde....if you cant bend it in your hand it is cut so avoid it!

[Eyerish]

9. K&R

[reggie the dog]

10. they threaten 3 years but will never give it

hell murder gets 8 or 10 years over here if it is 2nd degree

[xchrom]

18. Solidarity. Nt

[maryf]

19. Solidarity

K&R

[stray cat]

20. They are protesting that money start growing on trees -hope it works

[Hannah Bell]

21. lol. you seem to be of the opinion it grows on trees, i.e. it's a natural rather than man-made

item, like toaster-ovens --- in limited supply.

[mainer]

22. With high taxes, they still can't fund pensions

which is v. worrisome for every other country. People are living a decade longer than before -- and birth rates aren't high enough to ensure enough workers to support the pension plans. Can anyone here propose a solution to this problem? Just curious.

If the French, with their high taxation rates and relatively small military budget can't keep their pension system afloat, I fear for our own Social Security.