Sarkozy under pressure as 'millions' take to streets

[Ernst Debets]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Ik kijk al lang niet meer op van stakingen in Frankrijk. Zeker sinds
Nicholas (L'Etat c'est moi) Sarkozy aan de macht is zien de communistische
en socialistische vakbond per toerbeurt hun kans schoon om weer een staking
uit te roepen. Behalve tegen de regering Sarko is dit soort stakingen een
uitmuntende gelegenheid voor de vakbonden om te showen wie er in la douce
France de sterkste vakbond is. Dus als je naar Frankrijk moet, let op of je
niet tijdens de 2-maandelijkse staking gaat, want de kans is groot dat je
dan niet verder dan Brussel komt (De SNCF doet altijd mee met de staking,
alleen schijnen ze zelf meestal niet te weten waarom er gestaakt wordt..).

Avec meilleurs salutations
Ernst Debets/
Zaanstad

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Van: owner-d66 at nic.surfnet.nl [mailto:owner-d66 at nic.surfnet.nl] Namens Antid
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Verzonden: vrijdag 20 maart 2009 12:55
Aan: Discussielijst over D66
Onderwerp: Sarkozy under pressure as 'millions' take to streets

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Frankrijk, een voorbode voor protesten bij ons?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sarkozy-under-pressure-as-mil
lions-take-to-streets-1648608.html

Sarkozy under pressure as 'millions' take to streets

By James Mackenzie, Reuters

Thursday, 19 March 2009

As many as three million people took to the streets across France
today to protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy's handling of the
economic crisis and demand more help for struggling workers.

The protests, which polls show are backed by three quarters of the
French public, reflect growing disillusion with Sarkozy's pledges of
reform as the crisis has thrown tens of thousands out of work and left
millions more worried about their jobs.

Bright spring sunshine helped the turnout and the total reported by
union organisers surpassed the 2.5 million seen on an earlier day of
protest on Jan. 29.

Streets in central Paris were packed with protesters waving
anti-Sarkozy placards and chanting slogans, with badges reading "Get
lost you little jerk!", the now infamous comment made by Sarkozy to a
protestor at an agriculture show, much in evidence.

"There are more and more workers who feel they are not responsible for
this crisis but that they are the main victims of it," said Bernard
Thibault, head of the CGT, one of the eight trade unions organising
the strikes.

More than 2 million people are out of work in France and despite an
easing in inflation, even many with a job struggle with the high cost
of living.

A large public sector payroll and a relatively generous welfare state
has kept French people better protected than many in other countries
but there has been deep public anger at plant closures and stories of
corporate excess.

Sarkozy, elected in 2007 on a pledge to shake up the French economy,
has seen his approval ratings plunge as he has poured billions into
bailing out banks and carmakers but rejected union demands for higher
pay and tax hikes for the rich.

"People are in the streets and they are suffering, there are more and
more people out of work and something has to be done," said Sylvie
Daenenck, marching in Paris. "We shouldn't just be giving money to the
bosses."

The CGT said 3 million people had joined the protests, with hundreds
of thousands at the main rally in Paris and tens of thousands taking
part in marches in provincial towns and cities. Police, however, put
the Paris total at just 85,000.

Sarkozy's room for manoeuvre has been limited by the dire state of
French public finances, which have been drastically strained by the
need to prop up the fragile financial sector.

But a series of disputes, ranging from strikes by university staff to
unruly protests by workers at a tyre plant in northern France, have
underlined a worsening climate of discontent that the government fears
could escalate.

Workers at the Continental tyre factory pelted managers with eggs at
the protest this week and the government and business leaders have
been acutely aware of the danger of unrest spilling over into the kind
of violence seen in the urban riots of 2005.

Transport, energy and some government offices were all affected and
unions said there was also strong participation by workers from the
private sector, although there was no general shutdown of the economy.
Most businesses and public services functioned at close to normal levels.

The unions have presented a long list of demands, including a boost
for the lower salaried, more measures to protect employment, a tax
hike for high earners and a halt to job cuts planned in the public sector.

The government has introduced a 26 billion euro ($36 billion) stimulus
plan aimed at business investment, and after the Jan. 29 strike
Sarkozy offered 2.65 billion euros of additional aid to help
vulnerable households weather the storm.

But there is little prospect of an improvement in the situation, with
many analysts predicting the economy will contract by 2 percent this
year and unemployment will jump 25 percent to almost 10 percent.

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