France's beleaguered government, already under siege over a referendum on Europe's future, has a new tussle on its hands — over its decision to make the leisure-loving French surrender one of their annual holidays to generate billions of dollars for health care.
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The so-called "Day of Solidarity" seemed smart when it was introduced last year in response to a heat wave in August 2003 that killed 15,000 people, most of them elderly.
But as the lost holiday looms in May, many French are rebelling.
Jean-Pierre Raffarin, France's unpopular prime minister, called this week for "everyone to apply the law" and work the extra day — prompting several unions to dig in their heels deeper.
Even before the holiday headache, President Jacques Chirac's center-right government was in trouble over a referendum next month where voters will be asked to approve the European Union's first constitution.
Trouble is, polls suggest a majority of French will vote "no."
The charter would provide the 25-nation EU with a foreign minister and a president to give it greater clout internationally, and would streamline decision-making. Chirac has staked considerable prestige on getting it accepted.
But powerful trade unions, and opponents from far-right to far-left are campaigning against it. And sensing that Chirac is up against the ropes, unions who want to salvage the lost May holiday are using the issue to increase his government's discomfort.
Under the law, state workers no longer have a day off for the traditional Monday holiday after the Christian festival of Pentecost, which falls on May 16 this year. Private sector companies get to choose which holiday to scrap.
The government skims off a sliver of employers' revenues and puts the cash into a fund for improved care for the elderly and handicapped. It's expected to reap 2 billion euros ($2.59 billion) per year.
Employees have show up for the extra day of work — unpaid.
"We refuse this principle of this day of free work," said Bernard Thibault, head of the Communist-backed CGT union.
Sixty-one percent of respondents in a poll released Sunday said they oppose elimination of the holiday. The April 21-22 survey of 962 adults for Journal du Dimanche newspaper gave no margin of error.
Several unions are calling for strikes on May 16. Some schools plan to remain closed. The Paris regional government — run by a Socialist — has given its 1,200 workers the day off.
France's national railway operator SNCF came up with a cheeky alternative: Workers get to keep the day off, but instead will make up the time by working 1 minute, 52 seconds more each workday. How that will be timed is unclear.
"The SNCF is mocking everybody," blasted Nicolas Sarkozy, the popular head of Chirac's party. "If they thought they were being clever, they blew it."
National holidays on May 1 and May 8 both fall on Sundays this year, meaning they are lost. That has fanned the disgruntlement among workers accustomed to the chance for several long-weekend getaways that month.
Patrick Pelloux, the head of an association of emergency room doctors and the main critic of the government's handling of the heat wave crisis, said the plan was never ambitious enough.
"The government lied by telling people that a single day would suffice to create solidarity and pay for all of projects needed in the coming years to help the elderly and the handicapped," he said. |
