were they before?
as for stand-offs - how about this one?
1 Like
Nothing is in place to stop companies getting rid of over 50
I don’t get the impression that Macron has done enough communication. He should be on the telly explaining over and over again that a pension age of 62 is financially no longer supportable, and pointing out over and over again the pension age in other countries.
5 Likes
I thought he had engaged… It’s not out of the blue and unexpected but very necessary and measured.
Yes, but not enough. He and/or Borne should be all over the media explaining what they’re doing and why.
It has been explained and to those who are not selfish it seems they understand,
2 Likes
If you explain it properly even selfish people would see that they’re not working longer for other people but in order to make their own pension financially viable. They’re not being selfish they’re just not understanding properly.
there’s none as blind as them who won’t see… basically they are sheeple being herded by certain elements who have a different personal agenda.
Macron originally wanted to raise the retirement age to 65. I think he reduced it to 64 much too early. If he’d waited, he would have had bargaining leeway at the last minute.
2 Likes
Agree, though I’m stuck with waiting until I’m 67 so watching the French get up tight about working until 64 is mildly amusing.
I’m not going to benefit from lifting the lifetime cap either, not even close.
Very fond of standard poodles, the grand barbet in French or Pudel (water dog) in Germany. As previously hunting dogs of the C18th French aristocracy, they have great characters and lovely to see them splashing about in water. But I’m not a toy or coiffured dog fan… ours (not a poodle) receives constant “trop beau”s went out on walks and has never been to a toilettage parlour in his life but just gets buckets from the fountain thrown at him if he rolls in cow pats (not the same as my avatar)
Each to their own.
Pundits are suggesting that Labour will reverse it except for Doctors which was their original suggested plan (which the Tories filched).
1 Like
It’s not their way, you never see the mass campiagning like you do in UK. A lot is disseminated by gov’t supported pundits on interminable TV programmes and the ministers wheeled out daily for interviews.
3 Likes
I suspect if they’re anything like the UK then there are large groups of certain types of fonctionnaires with very generous pensions
“A dog is still a dog even if one calls it a poodle”
Now you’ve made Gigi cry, @JaneJones
1 Like
Which are by and large to compensate for lower salaries during their careers than they might have got had they accepted roles in the private sector.
1 Like
In the uk my experience of a percentage of civil servants was and probably still is a job that they know they cannot be sacked from, or carry the can for their inadequacies.
They are paid a steady salary and retire well before the state retirement age with a government paid pension which ensures thier lifestyle remains unaffected.
Seems it is the same in France.
2 Likes
I think you might be thinking of a previous civil service. In more recent years civil servants are sacked - generally by reorganisations that make their post redundant, so unless they can find another one they go. 100,000 civil servant posts vanished after the conservatives took power in 2010. And was the smallest it had ever been, perhaps adding to the difficulties the UK gov’t had in Brexit negotiations as they had got rid of a lot of senior negotiators, and their initial hopelessness with Covid. Their median salary is £30k - not exactly excessive. And the final salary pension scheme went years ago, so that has changed things significantly.
It isn’t perfect by any means, but my 10 years experience of it was that there was immense talent, incredible hard work and professionalism, and a work ethic that was generally very high. The Uk used to have a impartial and well trained civil service, that was admired by other countries, sadly this is going.
You weren’t perhaps thinking that local authority staff are civil servants were you?
3 Likes
Partly yes and my experience of their performance ceased when I left the UK in 2008.
My knowledge of civil servants is from a much earlier period, 70s and 80s, and 2nd hand via my wife who was a civil servant, a hard working one.
So yes, perhaps not the same now, too lean and mean it seems?
1 Like