French workers continue their fight

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This video says about itself:

9 June 2016

Thousands of retirees rallied in Paris, Thursday, following the call of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) to protest against the proposed budget cut to social security benefits for pensioners. The protesters marched through the streets of Paris, reaching the Ministry of Economy where they encountered the police roadblock.

SOT, Marie-Claire, protester (French): “We are supposed to be in a rich country. But we have lots of pensioners, thousands, even millions of poor pensioners. People who have worked all their lives and are forced now to protest through the streets to ask for an increase – that is what is unbearable. Especially when we heard, a few months ago, that there are billions and billions in Panama, a lot of people who do not declare their taxes, while if we made any mistake with ours, they don’t miss us.”

SOT, Marie-Claire, protester (French): “And then you have to relate with the new laws, health laws or the ‘El-Khomri law.’ Nothing is made for social protection, for more salary protection. If the labor law is ever passed, there would be job losses, which would inevitably have an impact on retirees.”

By James Tweedie:

France: Workers refuse to back down on law

Saturday 11th June 2016

Government threatens scab labour as Euro 2016 kicks off

FRENCH workers defied government threats and continued striking over the hated El Khomri labour law yesterday as the Euro 2016 football tournament began.

Transport Minister Alain Vidalies vowed to use scab labour after rail workers threatened to walk out on the line serving the Stade de France in St Denis outside Paris, where France played Romania in the opening match.

“If requisitioning is required … we will do it,” he said. “There will be no more negotiating.”

Air France pilots called a four-day strike from today, just as an estimated two million football supporters were set to arrive in the country.

Sports Minister Thierry Braillard moaned that disrupting the tournament was “just not normal.”

But train driver Berenger Cernon, who is also secretary of the CGT union federation’s branch at the Gare de Lyon in Paris, was defiant, saying: “We did not decide that the Euros will take place on this date.

“There is a social movement going on now. The reorganisation [of labour] continues, the labour law continues.”

French government threatens to crush strikes as Euro 2016 football cup starts: here.

French government threatens ban on protests against labor law: here.

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