London Crawling

[marmar]

Commuters in France and London faced major delays on public transit Tuesday morning as workers in both countries staged 24-hour strikes.

In France, unions launched the strike to protest a government plan to change the pension system, including a proposal to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62.



Meanwhile, commuters in London dealt with rush-hour chaos after London Underground workers took part in a one-day strike, closing much of the city's busy subway system.



Many rush-hour trains were cancelled in the Paris region, and people with medium- or short-haul flights faced long delays and cancellations because of disruptions to air-traffic control services.

Schools and hospitals will also be affected by the strike, union leaders say.

Nearly 200 rallies are planned around the country, and union officials hope as many as two million people will participate. A similar effort June 24 drew nearly 800,000 people. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/09/07/france-strike-retirement.html#ixzz0ysB0gXNE

[Vincardog]

1. Those citizens know how to treat their government

[Liberal_in_LA]

13. People in France protest a lot!

[liberal N proud]

2. 60 - 62, If only we had that problem here

The corporate pigs here want us to slave until we die on the line.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

15. The retirement age rising is an inevitable consquence of better healthcare.

If more people are living longer, and keeping them healthy costs more, then the retirement age is going to have to rise. It's not "til you die", it's "for the same fraction of your life expectancy (which is now longer than it once was) or possibly a bit longer due to the increased availability of expensive health care for the elderly".

[Vincardog]

17. That sounds like BS to me. The rising life span is mainly the result of lower infant mortality.

lucky for us the US is losing ground in that race.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[Donald Ian Rankin]

19. Go and take a look at some population pyramids.

It's a simple fact that in most first-world countries, the proportion of the population over 60 is steadily rising.

[Vincardog]

20. First world countries have lower birth rates. Naturally the proportion of older people increases

when you have proportionally fewer children.
The nice thing about statistics is you can make them appear to say what ever you want them to.

[Rex]

16. Corporate piggies only care about money, their workers can die early

for all they care...better yet, don't live past retirement would be better in the piggies book then paying one cent for their serfs health!

[Raster]

18. True. Once you retire you become a "non-peforming asset"

[onehandle]

3. And America is gladly about to let an orange man plan their future. nt

[pampango]

4. BBC: Pension rallies hit French cities

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11204528

The rallies came as a 24-hour national strike disrupted flight and rail services, and closed schools. Officials said 1.1 million people had joined protests, but unions claimed the figure was 2.5 million.

The activists are angry at government plans to overhaul pensions and raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.

Under current rules, both men and women in France can retire at 60, providing they have paid social security contributions for 40.5 years - although they are not entitled to a full pension until they are 65.

Activists were also keen to maker a wider point, angry at the recent deportation of about 1,000 Roma (Gypsies) and a host of proposed laws which they say unfairly target immigrants and minorities. "Pensions are a pretext for protesting against the Sarkozy system," said Adji Ahoudian, a Socialist Party activist.

[corkhead]

5. we should be doing the same on this side of the Atlantic.

We should not fear the government. The government should fear us.

btw, kudos for "London Crawling" title, being the obvious Clash fan that I am.:toast:

[mike_c]

6. solidarity!

Gawd how I wish American workers had the courage french workers display routinely!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

7. Gawd is Great!

[Swamp Rat]

8. I thought this was going to be about bed bug infestation

[tkmorris]

9. Cute headline

[Subdivisions]

10. Look at those brave, brave citizens. Amazing. n/t

[RKP5637]

11. And the lemmings/lambs of America just silently take it like good

little docile groupies of the system, obedient to our corporate masters in USA, Inc.

[TBF]

12. Recommended in solidarity. nt

[Hannah Bell]

14. k&r for the global push-back.