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Tag: Strikes

  • Macron’s pension plan advances despite strikes across France

    Macron’s pension plan advances despite strikes across France

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    PARIS — Thousands of people angered over President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age joined a national strike on Wednesday as a committee of lawmakers advanced the proposal.

    It remains to be seen whether Macron can command a parliamentary majority for his plan to raise the age from 62 to 64 so that workers can pay more money into the system. If not, he could risk imposing the unpopular changes unilaterally.

    The plan also would deny a full pension to anyone who retires at 64 without having worked for 43 years — short of that, they’d have to wait until 67.

    Macron has promoted the changes as central to his vision for making the French economy more competitive. Unions remained combative late Wednesday, calling on lawmakers to vote against the plan and denouncing the government’s legal shortcuts to move the bill forward as a dangerous “denial of democracy.”

    Economic challenges have prompted widespread unrest across Western Europe. In Britain on Wednesday, teachers, junior doctors and public transport staff were striking for higher wages to match rising prices. And Spain’s left-wing government joined with labor unions to announce a “historic” deal to save its pension system by raising social security costs for higher wage earners.

    Spain’s solution is exactly what French unions would like, but Macron has refused to raise taxes, saying it would make the country’s economy less competitive. Something must be done, the president has argued, to sustain France’s current levels of pension payments with the retiree population expected to grow from 16 to 21 million by 2050.

    In Paris, loud music and huge union balloons kicked off the 8th nationwide round of protests. An array of banners set the tone: “They say capitalism. We say fight,” read one. Others said “Paris enraged,” or “If rights aren’t defended, they’ll be trampled.”

    “If we don’t speak up now then all our rights that the French have fought for will be lost.” said Nicolas Durand, a 33-year-old actor. “Macron is out of touch, and in bed with the rich. It’s easy for the people in government to say work harder, but their lives have been easy.”

    Ten days into a sanitation workers’ strike, Paris was awash in piles of rancid rubbish, which police ordered cleared out along the march route after troublemakers used garbage to start fires or throw trash at police in recent demonstrations.

    A heavy security force accompanied the march through the Left Bank and disbursed a group of black-clad troublemakers that attacked two real estate offices, smashing their windows with fence panels. A total of 22 people were detained, Paris police said.

    Security forces responded to violence with tear gas in other cities, including Nantes in western France and Lyon in the southeast.

    The committee of seven senators and seven National Assembly lawmakers agreed on the final text Wednesday in a closed-door meeting, and a conservative Senate majority is expected to approve it as early as Thursday.

    The situation at the National Assembly is much more complicated.

    Macron’s centrist alliance lost its majority in legislative elections last year, forcing the government to count on conservatives’ votes to pass the bill. Leftists and far-right lawmakers are strongly opposed and conservatives are divided, making the outcome unpredictable.

    Macron “wishes” to have a vote proceed at the National Assembly, his office said following an evening strategy session with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and ministers in charge of the bill at the Elysee presidential palace. Yet no firm decision was made and government talks were to continue Thursday morning.

    Approval in the National Assembly Thursday would give the plan more legitimacy, but rather than face the risk of rejection, Macron could instead use his special constitutional power to force the bill through parliament without a vote.

    French government spokesperson Olivier Véran said Wednesday that the bill will continue its way through the legislative process, respecting “all the rules that are provided by our Constitution.”

    Republicans party lawmaker Aurelien Pradié — who opposes the reforms — said Wednesday that if this special power is used, he would lodge a challenge to the constitutional council, a higher French legal body.

    Train drivers, school teachers, dock workers, oil refinery workers and others joined garbage collectors in walking off their jobs on Wednesday, maneuvering past thousands of tons of garbage piling up on the sidewalks of Paris and other French cities.

    Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin asked Paris City Hall to force some of the garbage workers to return to work, calling it a public health issue.

    The Paris mayor, Socialist Anne Hidalgo, said she supports the strike. Government spokesperson Véran warned that if she doesn’t comply, the Interior Ministry is ready to act instead.

    Public transport, meanwhile has been disrupted: About 40% of high-speed trains and half the regional trains have been canceled. The Paris Metro has slowed, and France’s aviation authority warned of delays, saying 20% of the flights at Paris-Orly airport have been canceled.

    Paris police said 37,000 participated in the French capital, 11,000 less than Saturday, even as polls show widespread opposition to the pension bill. The leading CGT union said 450,000 participated in Paris and 1.7 million across all of France.

    “It will be those who work the hardest who will get a bad deal. It’s always like that,” said Magali Brutel, a 41-year-old nurse. “Very rich people could pay more in taxes — that’s a good solution to pay for an aging population. Why are we effectively taxing the oldest and the poorest?”

    ___

    Associated Press contributors include Alex Turnbull, Nico Garriga and Thomas Adamson in Paris.

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  • Thousands of LA school district workers to hold 3-day strike

    Thousands of LA school district workers to hold 3-day strike

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    LOS ANGELES — Tens of thousands of workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District will strike for three days next week over stalled contract talks and teachers will join them, likely shutting down the nation’s second-largest school system, union leaders announced Wednesday.

    The strike was set to begin Tuesday. It was announced at a rally by the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 30,000 teachers’ aides, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and other support staff.

    United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing 35,000 teachers, counselors and other staff, expressed solidarity.

    “Educators will be joining our union siblings on the picket lines,” a UTLA tweet said.

    Teachers waged a six-day strike in 2019 over pay and contract issues but schools remained open.

    This time, schools would likely close and there wouldn’t be any access to virtual learning, Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said in an email to parents on Monday.

    “We would simply have no way of ensuring a safe and secure environment where teaching can take place,” Carvalho said.

    On Wednesday, Carvalho accused the union of refusing to negotiate and said that he was prepared to meet “day and night” to prevent a strike.

    “We are calling on them to come to the table for staff and students, right now,” he said in a statement.

    The district has more than 500,000 students. It serves Los Angeles and all or part of 25 other cities and unincorporated county areas.

    SEIU members have been working without a contract since June 2020 and the contract for teachers expired in June 2022. The unions decided last week to stop accepting extensions to their contracts.

    The SEIU says district support staffers earn, on average, about $25,000 per year and many live in poverty while struggling with inflation and the high cost of housing in LA County. The union is asking for a 30% raise.

    The district has made what it called an historic offer to the SEIU of a $15 wage increase, some of it retroactive, and 9% in retention bonuses.

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  • UK: Tens of thousands of doctors kick off 3-day strike

    UK: Tens of thousands of doctors kick off 3-day strike

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    LONDON — Tens of thousands of junior doctors went on strike across England on Monday to demand better pay, kicking off three days of widespread disruption at the U.K.’s state-funded hospitals and health clinics.

    Junior doctors — who are qualified but in the earlier years of their career — make up 45% of all doctors in the National Health Service. Their walkout means that operations and appointments will be canceled for thousands of patients, and senior doctors and other medics have had to be drafted in to cover for emergency services, critical care and maternity services.

    The British Medical Association, the doctors’ trade union, says pay for junior doctors has fallen 26% in real terms since 2008, while workload and patient waiting lists are at record highs. The union says burnout and the U.K.’s cost-of-living crisis are driving scores of doctors away from the public health service.

    The union said newly qualified medics earn just 14.09 pounds ($17) an hour.

    “All that junior doctors are asking is to be paid a wage that matches our skill set,” said Rebecca Lissman, 29, a trainee in obstetrics and gynaecology. “We love the NHS, and I don’t want to work in private practice, but I think we are seeing the erosion of public services.”

    “I want to be in work, looking after people, getting trained. I don’t want to be out here striking, but I feel that I have to,” she added.

    Other health workers, including nurses and paramedics, have also staged strikes in recent months to demand better pay and conditions. NHS figures show that more than 100,000 appointments have already been postponed this winter as a result of the nurses’ walkouts.

    Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, said the 72-hour strike this week is expected to have the most serious impact and will cause “extensive disruption.”

    He said some cancer care will likely be affected, alongside routine appointments and some operations.

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters on Sunday it was “disappointing that the junior doctors’ union are not engaging with the government.” The doctors’ union said officials have refused to engage with their demands for months, and that a recent invitation to talks came with “unacceptable” preconditions.

    The doctors’ strike this week will coincide with mass walkouts by tens of thousands of teachers and civil servants on Wednesday, the day the government unveils its latest budget statement.

    A wave of strikes has disrupted Britons’ lives for months, as workers demand pay raises to keep pace with soaring inflation, which stood at 10.1% in January. That was down from a November peak of 11.1%, but is still the highest in 40 years.

    Scores of others in the public sector, including train drivers, airport baggage handlers, border staff, driving examiners, bus drivers and postal workers have all walked off their jobs to demand higher pay.

    Unions say wages, especially in the public sector, have fallen in real terms over the past decade, and a cost-of-living crisis fueled by sharply rising food and energy prices has left many struggling to pay their bills.

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  • Flights at several German airports disrupted by 1-day strike

    Flights at several German airports disrupted by 1-day strike

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    Flights at several German airports have been severely disrupted by the latest in a string of one-day strikes related to various pay disputes

    BERLIN — Flights at several German airports were severely disrupted on Monday by the latest in a string of one-day strikes related to various pay disputes.

    The ver.di union called workers out on “warning strikes” at Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover and Bremen airports.

    Some 200 departures were canceled in Berlin, and about a third of the planned 200 arrivals were expected to be canceled, German news agency dpa reported. Hamburg airport said that all 123 planned departures during the strike were canceled and at least 50 of the 121 planned arrivals.

    The walkouts by airport staff come amid difficult pay talks for employees of Germany’s federal and municipal governments.

    Unions are seeking a 10.5% pay raise, while employers so far have offered an increase totaling 5% in two stages and one-time payments of 2,500 euros ($2,630) per employee — which unions have rejected as insufficient. The next round of talks is due to start March 27.

    There are also negotiations ongoing nationwide over air safety workers’ pay and locally for ground service workers.

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  • Is inflation still surging? Jobs report will provide clues

    Is inflation still surging? Jobs report will provide clues

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    WASHINGTON — A month ago, the government dropped a bombshell jobs report that showed that America’s employers added a sizzling half-million-plus positions in January — twice the December gain and far more than economists had expected.

    The February jobs report, to be released Friday, will be closely watched by economists who are eager to know whether the January blowout was a one-time blip or some sign of a strengthening economy.

    The answer could heavily influence what the Federal Reserve does in the coming months. A second month of robust hiring could amplify fears that inflation is re-accelerating after months in which it had appeared to be steadily easing. The Fed, in response, would likely pursue a more aggressive pace of rate hikes beginning with its next policy meeting in two weeks.

    Some economists say they think the central bank will announce a substantial half-point increase in its key short-term interest rate, rather than a quarter point hike as it did at its meeting in February. In testimony to Congress this week, Chair Jerome Powell made clear that the Fed would increase the size of its rate hikes if evidence continued to point to a robust economy and persistently high inflation

    When the Fed raises its benchmark rate, it typically leads to higher rates on mortgages, auto loans, credit card borrowing and business loans. The goal in raising loan rates is to cool borrowing and spending and slow inflation.

    Economists have estimated that employers significantly slowed their hiring in February, with a gain of 208,000 jobs, according to a survey by the data provider FactSet. Though that figure would be far below January’s gain, it would still be consistent with a healthy economy.

    Rapid hiring typically leads businesses to offer higher pay to attract or keep workers, and their higher labor costs are often passed on to their customers through higher prices. It’s a cycle that tends to keep inflation elevated.

    “We have two or three more very important data releases to analyze before” the Fed’s next meeting, Powell told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. “Those are going to be very important.”

    Besides Friday’s jobs report, those data releases include Tuesday’s report on consumer inflation in February. Last month’s report on January inflation had raised alarms by showing that consumer prices reaccelerated on a month-to-month basis.

    January’s vigorous hiring data was the first in a series of reports to point to an accelerating economy at the start of the year. Employers added 517,000 jobs, the most in nearly a year, and the unemployment rate reached 3.4%, the lowest level since 1969. Sales at retail stores and restaurants also jumped, and inflation, according to the Fed’s preferred measure, rose from December to January at the fastest pace in seven months.

    The stronger data reversed a cautiously optimistic narrative that the economy was cooling modestly — just enough, perhaps, to tame inflation without triggering a deep recession. Now, the economic outlook is hazier.

    High borrowing rates have cratered the housing market, with home sales having dropped for 12 straight months, a consequence of the average mortgage rate nearly doubling over that time. Manufacturing is also showing signs of weakness. Higher rates have made it harder for businesses and consumers to borrow to buy major factory goods, from machinery to cars to appliances.

    By contrast, spending for services — things like traveling, dining out and attending entertainment events — remains strong. Many Americans continue to engage in activities that were restricted during the COVID lockdowns.

    One reason why hiring likely slowed in February, analysts say, is that some of the outsize hiring in January had reflected one-time factors. The weather, for example, was unusually warm, which likely caused more people to go out and spend and allowed more construction projects to continue. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has estimated that the weather added about 120,000 jobs to January’s total.

    And a strike by workers at the University of California system ended, adding 36,000 jobs to January’s total. Subtracting those two factors would have lowered job growth in January to about 360,000, matching the average gain for the past six months.

    Hiring even at that rate is about triple the level the Fed would prefer. Job gains of about 100,000 a month would be just enough to keep up with population growth and prevent unemployment from rising. A figure that low would also mean that employers weren’t so desperate for workers and wouldn’t have to keep raising wages.

    Higher pay is great for employees, of course. But Fed officials say it is contributing to higher inflation, particularly in labor-intensive service industries like restaurants, health care and hotels.

    “Strong wage growth is good for workers but only if it is not eroded by inflation,” Powell said in testimony to Congress on Wednesday.

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  • Is inflation still surging? Jobs report will provide clues

    Is inflation still surging? Jobs report will provide clues

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    WASHINGTON — A month ago, the government dropped a bombshell jobs report that showed that America’s employers added a sizzling half-million-plus positions in January — twice the December gain and far more than economists had expected.

    The February jobs report, to be released Friday, will be closely watched by economists who are eager to know whether the January blowout was a one-time blip or some sign of a strengthening economy.

    The answer could heavily influence what the Federal Reserve does in the coming months. A second month of robust hiring could amplify fears that inflation is re-accelerating after months in which it had appeared to be steadily easing. The Fed, in response, would likely pursue a more aggressive pace of rate hikes beginning with its next policy meeting in two weeks.

    Some economists say they think the central bank will announce a substantial half-point increase in its key short-term interest rate, rather than a quarter point hike as it did at its meeting in February. In testimony to Congress this week, Chair Jerome Powell made clear that the Fed would increase the size of its rate hikes if evidence continued to point to a robust economy and persistently high inflation

    When the Fed raises its benchmark rate, it typically leads to higher rates on mortgages, auto loans, credit card borrowing and business loans. The goal in raising loan rates is to cool borrowing and spending and slow inflation.

    Economists have estimated that employers significantly slowed their hiring in February, with a gain of 208,000 jobs, according to a survey by the data provider FactSet. Though that figure would be far below January’s gain, it would still be consistent with a healthy economy.

    Rapid hiring typically leads businesses to offer higher pay to attract or keep workers, and their higher labor costs are often passed on to their customers through higher prices. It’s a cycle that tends to keep inflation elevated.

    “We have two or three more very important data releases to analyze before” the Fed’s next meeting, Powell told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. “Those are going to be very important.”

    Besides Friday’s jobs report, those data releases include Tuesday’s report on consumer inflation in February. Last month’s report on January inflation had raised alarms by showing that consumer prices reaccelerated on a month-to-month basis.

    January’s vigorous hiring data was the first in a series of reports to point to an accelerating economy at the start of the year. Employers added 517,000 jobs, the most in nearly a year, and the unemployment rate reached 3.4%, the lowest level since 1969. Sales at retail stores and restaurants also jumped, and inflation, according to the Fed’s preferred measure, rose from December to January at the fastest pace in seven months.

    The stronger data reversed a cautiously optimistic narrative that the economy was cooling modestly — just enough, perhaps, to tame inflation without triggering a deep recession. Now, the economic outlook is hazier.

    High borrowing rates have cratered the housing market, with home sales having dropped for 12 straight months, a consequence of the average mortgage rate nearly doubling over that time. Manufacturing is also showing signs of weakness. Higher rates have made it harder for businesses and consumers to borrow to buy major factory goods, from machinery to cars to appliances.

    By contrast, spending for services — things like traveling, dining out and attending entertainment events — remains strong. Many Americans continue to engage in activities that were restricted during the COVID lockdowns.

    One reason why hiring likely slowed in February, analysts say, is that some of the outsize hiring in January had reflected one-time factors. The weather, for example, was unusually warm, which likely caused more people to go out and spend and allowed more construction projects to continue. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has estimated that the weather added about 120,000 jobs to January’s total.

    And a strike by workers at the University of California system ended, adding 36,000 jobs to January’s total. Subtracting those two factors would have lowered job growth in January to about 360,000, matching the average gain for the past six months.

    Hiring even at that rate is about triple the level the Fed would prefer. Job gains of about 100,000 a month would be just enough to keep up with population growth and prevent unemployment from rising. A figure that low would also mean that employers weren’t so desperate for workers and wouldn’t have to keep raising wages.

    Higher pay is great for employees, of course. But Fed officials say it is contributing to higher inflation, particularly in labor-intensive service industries like restaurants, health care and hotels.

    “Strong wage growth is good for workers but only if it is not eroded by inflation,” Powell said in testimony to Congress on Wednesday.

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  • France on strike: Unions say ‘non’ to higher pension age

    France on strike: Unions say ‘non’ to higher pension age

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    Garbage collectors, utility workers and train drivers are among people walking off the job Tuesday across France

    PARIS — Garbage collectors, utility workers and train drivers are among people walking off the job Tuesday across France to show their anger at a bill raising the retirement age to 64, which unions see as a broader threat to the French social model.

    More than 250 protests are expected in Paris and around the country in what organizers hope is their biggest show of force yet against President Emmanuel Macron’s showcase legislation, after nearly two months of demonstrations. The bill is under debate in the French Senate this week.

    Unions threatened to freeze up the French economy with work stoppages across multiple sectors, most visibly an open-ended strike at the SNCF national rail authority.

    Commuters packed into one of the rare trains heading for Paris from the southern suburbs before dawn. The government encouraged people to work from home if their jobs allow.

    A fifth of flights were canceled at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport and about a third of flights at Orly Airport. Trains to Germany and Spain are expected to come to a halt, and those to and from Britain will be reduced by a third, according to the SNCF rail authority.

    More than 60% of teachers in primary schools are expected to be on strike, as well as public sector workers elsewhere.

    The reform would raise the official pension age from 62 to 64 and require 43 years of work to earn a full pension, as France’s population ages and life expectancy lengthens.

    Opinion polls suggest most French voters oppose the bill. Left-wing lawmakers say companies and the wealthy should pitch in more to finance the pension system.

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  • Biden to nominate Julie Su as next US labor secretary

    Biden to nominate Julie Su as next US labor secretary

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is nominating Julie Su, the current deputy and former California official, as his next labor secretary, replacing the departing incumbent, former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

    Su, a civil rights attorney and former head of California’s labor department, was central to negotiations between labor and freight rail companies late last year, working to avert an economically debilitating strike. She also has worked to broaden employee training programs and crack down on wage theft. If confirmed by the Senate, Su would also be the first Asian American in the Biden administration to serve in the Cabinet at the secretary level.

    Biden, in a statement on Tuesday, called her a “champion for workers.”

    “Julie is a tested and experienced leader, who will continue to build a stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive economy that provides Americans a fair return for their work and an equal chance to get ahead,” he said. “She helped avert a national rail shutdown, improved access to good jobs free from discrimination through my Good Jobs Initiative, and is ensuring that the jobs we create in critical sectors like semiconductor manufacturing, broadband and healthcare are good-paying, stable and accessible jobs for all.”

    Su was considered to lead the department when Biden won the White House but instead became the department’s deputy. Walsh announced his intention to leave the administration earlier this month to lead the National Hockey League Players’ Association. Su will serve as the acting secretary until the Senate acts on her nomination.

    Biden had been under pressure from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and other Asian American and Pacific Islander advocates to select Su to head the department. This administration was the first in more than two decades to not have a Cabinet secretary of AAPI descent, despite its regular declarations that it was the most diverse in history. Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai are of AAPI descent but don’t lead a Cabinet department.

    Su, if confirmed, would also expand the majority of women serving in the president’s Cabinet. She was confirmed by the Senate to her current role in 2021 by a 50–47 vote.

    Su’s nomination drew swift support from Democrats on Capitol Hill, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer saying she would be “phenomenal” in the job.

    “The president couldn’t have picked a better nominee,” he told reporters. “I’m really excited about her, and we’re going to move to consider her nomination very, very quickly.”

    Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who will preside over Su’s confirmation hearing as chair of the Senate health, education, labor and pensions committee, praised the selection. Sanders had urged consideration of Sara Nelson, the president of the flight attendants union, but made clear Su had his strong support.

    “I’m confident Julie Su will be an excellent Secretary of Labor,” he tweeted. “I look forward to working with her to protect workers’ rights and build the trade union movement in this country.”

    But Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate health, education and labor committee who opposed Su when she was selected for deputy secretary, called her work overseeing the department “troubling” and “anti-worker.”

    The committee should “have a full and thorough hearing process,” Cassidy said.

    Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., who chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said she was “overjoyed” by the selection, thanking Biden in a tweet for “nominating your first AAPI Cabinet Secretary!”

    “It certainly is better late than never,” Chu said in a brief interview, citing CAPAC support for Su two years ago for the top Labor post and praising Su’s credentials as a leader and enforcer of labor laws including minimum wage and occupational safety standards. She said GOP criticism about Su had been fully vetted two years ago and that the coming confirmation process will show their charges “have no basis.”

    Chu noted that Biden had said he would name a Cabinet that looked like America, and “he fulfilled that promise.”

    Su’s nomination also comes at a key moment for labor unions, which have been facing a decline in membership for decades. Unions gained some momentum as workers at major employers such as Amazon and Starbucks pushed to unionize. But Biden — an avowed pro-union president — had to work with Congress to impose a contract on rail workers last year to avoid a possible strike.

    The Labor Department said just 10.1% of workers last year were union members. That figure has been cut nearly in half since 1983 and could fall further, as younger workers are less likely to belong to unions.

    “There’s no one more dedicated and qualified to defend the fundamental rights of working people than Julie Su,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “It’s her life’s work.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Josh Boak, Mary Clare Jalonick and Hope Yen in Washington contributed to this report.

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  • Medieval Times Scrambles To Fly In Knights From Other Castles Amid Strike

    Medieval Times Scrambles To Fly In Knights From Other Castles Amid Strike

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    Unionized workers at Medieval Times’ castle in Buena Park, California, launched a surprise strike against their employer last Saturday afternoon, just ahead of the day’s second performance. The dinner-theater chain managed to put on its show, but not without some serious scrambling as workers headed to the picket line.

    According to four workers from the castle, Medieval Times substituted a horse trainer for the show’s yellow knight ahead of the performance. Such a replacement would typically not be trained for the dangerous jousting and combat stunts that the knights perform as they fight for the queen’s honor. So Medieval Times apparently went off script.

    There’s a standard moment in the Medieval Times show where the chancellor invites any knights to leave if they believe the danger of combat is too great: “If any of you should lament this petition and its dangers, you are free now to retire in honor.” It’s a perfunctory overture that the brave knights always decline. But in this case, the employees told HuffPost, the substitute knight took the chancellor’s offer and fled the arena on his horse, never to return.

    That left revelers who’d been assigned the yellow knight without a hero to cheer for.

    “That part of the show is standard, but no one is supposed to leave,” said Erin Zapcic, a striking performer who was outside when the show took place.

    Zapcic’s telling was corroborated by another worker who was inside the castle at the time. This worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they don’t have union protections, said the company also tapped workers from other departments to work as “squires” in the show, assisting the knights in the arena. The role requires working in close proximity to horses. One of the substitute squires was running around the sand arena in his running shoes, they recalled.

    “It was not a safe environment,” the worker said.

    Medieval Times did not respond to requests for comment on the strike or questions about how it was handling staffing during the work stoppage.

    The company soon brought in other trained knights and cast members from far-flung castles to fill in as replacements ― derisively called “scabs” in union parlance ― in order to keep the Buena Park schedule on track. The striking workers saw some of the replacements arrive with their luggage in tow. (Medieval Times has nine U.S. castles and one in Canada.)

    Julia McCurdie, another performer on strike, said the company must have gone to great expense to bring in replacements.

    “To see them spend thousands upon thousands of dollars flying people out from other castles, putting them up in hotels, paying them a per diem to cover our shifts … That money could have easily been spent on paying us a living wage, which is what we’re asking,” McCurdie said.

    Medieval Times workers have been pressing the company to pay more, with many saying they earn about $18 per hour, or even less ― a sum that they say fails to match either their training or the high cost of living in Southern California. But union members say they went on strike because of the company’s unfair labor practices, accusing management of failing to bargain in good faith and unlawfully trying to silence them.

    Workers who strike over alleged unfair labor practices generally have more legal protections than workers who strike for economic reasons, and it’s more difficult for an employer to permanently replace them. The Buena Park workers became the second group of Medieval Times workers to unionize last year, following a successful union drive at the company’s Lyndhurst, New Jersey, castle. (Medieval Times operates nine castles in the U.S. in all.)

    The union does not include the castle’s food and retail workers. Many workers in the castle’s stables department, which is part of the union, have chosen to continue working through the stoppage, employees told HuffPost. But more than half the bargaining unit has opted to join the picket line. Zapcic said some of the workers in other departments have joined the picketers on their days off or during breaks as well.

    “More people walked off with us than I thought would,” said Jake Bowman, a knight at the castle. “There was a lot of fear that we would be on our own, but the community is rallying behind us, and that’s given a lot of people confidence to do this for as long as it takes.”

    Bowman said the “final domino” preceding the strike was the company’s decision to target their social media accounts.

    Last year, Medieval Times sued the workers’ union, the American Guild of Variety Artists, for allegedly infringing on the company’s trademark with its campaign name, Medieval Times Performers United, and its Middle Ages-themed logo. More recently, the company appears to have escalated its trademark fight by trying to have the Buena Park bargaining unit’s TikTok and Facebook accounts hushed.

    As HuffPost reported last month, the union recently learned that its TikTok account had been banned following an intellectual property complaint. TikTok has not responded to repeated requests for comment from HuffPost.

    “There was a lot of fear that we would be on our own, but the community is rallying behind us, and that’s given a lot of people confidence to do this for as long as it takes.”

    – Jake Bowman, Buena Park Medieval Times knight

    Perico Montaner, the CEO of Medieval Times, also appears to have filed an intellectual property complaint with Facebook regarding the union’s Buena Park account. Facebook parent company Meta told HuffPost that one of the union’s posts was taken down erroneously but later restored. The social media company declined to comment further, citing the Medieval Times litigation.

    The American Guild of Variety Artists has filed unfair labor practice charges against Medieval Times over both the lawsuit and its apparent attempts to quash the social media accounts. Labor law forbids employers from retaliating against workers for coming together and exercising what’s known as “protected concerted activity.”

    Zapcic said Medieval Times has also muzzled the workers’ supporters by hiding comments under the company’s social media posts, where commenters were calling for the company to bargain and raise wages.

    “We knew a while ago we were going to have to escalate things, but once it got to the point where they were actively silencing us and our supporters and fans, we just said we have to kick this up a notch,” said Zapcic. “Timing-wise, it’s a busy week. Valentine’s Day is a huge revenue generator [for Medieval Times]. It just seemed like if we were gonna do it, we were gonna have to do it now.”

    Sparring with workers on social media can be a dangerous game for any employer to play. The AFL-CIO labor federation put together a TikTok on Medieval Times’ trademark complaints, which likely helped steer union supporters into the comments section of the company’s social media posts. At some point, the company appears to have dropped its TikTok handle, @medievaltimestherealone, and migrated to a new one, @medieval.times.official.

    After word spread about the TikTok banning, comedian Ben Palmer reached out to the Medieval Times workers to see if there was any way he could help. Palmer has 3.7 million followers on TikTok, where his handle befits his schtick: @palmertrolls. Palmer realized that Medieval Times’ old TikTok handle was left up for grabs ― so, he says, he snagged it, branded it “Mid Evil Times,” and linked to the union’s GoFundMe for strikers, asking followers to “help us stand up to the overlords.”

    @palmertrolls

    The new Medieval Times TikTok: Tiktok.com/@medievaltimestherealone 🎤 my live comedy show dates: Tucson, AZ – 2.18 Syracuse – 3.1 NYC – 3.2 Dallas – 4.7 4.8 Richmond – 4.19 Chicago – 4.26 Sacramento – 5.23 San Francisco – 5.24 Brea, CA – 5.25

    ♬ original sound – Ben Palmer

    Palmer put together a TikTok blasting Medieval Times management that had more than 660,000 views as of Friday afternoon. By contrast, a typical TikTok from the company itself gets a couple thousand eyeballs.

    Asked about his decision to wade into the Medieval Times fight, Palmer told HuffPost in an email that he often trolls companies he believes are mistreating workers, and that he previously emailed Starbucks, Frito-Lay, Nabisco and others when their employees went on strike.

    “I support employees making a better life for themselves and the fight against unnecessary corporate greed that leads to unnecessary suffering,” he said.

    As for being able to grab the company’s old TikTok handle, Palmer said: “I guess I could say I’m a little surprised they left their username available, but it also makes sense that they’d be careless.”

    The strike at Buena Park is open-ended, with workers vowing to stay on the picket line until the company stops its alleged unfair labor practices. The union had a bargaining session with management on Wednesday ― at the same hotel where replacement workers appear to be staying.

    Zapcic said strikers have been encouraging customers not to cross the castle’s picket line. Many, she said, are unaware of the labor dispute and upset to hear from cast members who have been replaced. The company has been offering credits and refunds to customers with tickets who would rather wait until the dispute is resolved.

    Like the Buena Park castle, workers at Medieval Times’ New Jersey castle are trying to bargain their first union contract. They are not on strike at the moment, but Marcus de Vere, a knight in New Jersey, said he feels inspired by his fellow performers on the opposite coast.

    “I’m extremely proud of them. It takes a lot of courage to do something like that, and they are fed up just like we are,” said de Vere. “They’re just speaking the truth. What is this company afraid of?”

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  • HarperCollins union approves contract, ends 3-month strike

    HarperCollins union approves contract, ends 3-month strike

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Striking union members at HarperCollins Publishers have approved a tentative agreement reached last week and will return to work Tuesday, ending a walkout that lasted more than three months and became the center of an ongoing debate about salaries in the industry.

    More than 200 members, from editorial assistants to publicists and designers, of Local 2110 of the United Auto Workers union had been working without a contract since last spring. They went on strike in early November, with wages, workplace diversity and union protection among the issues. Notably, the union called for raising the entry level salary from $45,000 to $50,000.

    The union announced the ratification Thursday.

    “The @hcpunion has a strong, fair contract, and I am very, very proud,” tweeted union chair Laura Harshberger, a senior production editor in the children’s books division.

    “We are pleased that the agreement was ratified,” a HarperCollins statement reads. “We are excited to move forward together.”

    Under the new terms, reached after HarperCollins agreed in late January to negotiations with a federal mediator, annual starting pay will increase to $47,500 upon ratification, and rise to $50,000 by the beginning of 2025. In addition, full-time employees in the union will receive lump sum payments of $1,500.

    The contract also allows for more time for union members to meet during work hours, requires that a “welcome letter” from the union be included in job packets for eligible new hires and establishes a joint labor-management committee “to discuss issues of concern to either party.”

    HarperCollins, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, is the only major New York publisher with a union. Hundreds of authors and agents had backed the striking HarperCollins workers, and, in recent weeks, both Macmillan and Hachette Book Group had announced they were raising starting salaries, which range from $45,000-$50,000 among the larger companies.

    The agreement came amid HarperCollins’ plan to reduce its North American workforce by 5% through layoffs and attrition. The publisher has cited reduced revenues over the past year and higher costs.

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  • Actors strike at California medieval-themed dinner theater

    Actors strike at California medieval-themed dinner theater

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    BUENA PARK, Calif. (AP) — From queens to knights, actors at a Southern California medieval-themed dinner theater have left the castle.

    The Orange County Register reports Tuesday about 50 performers and stable hands have gone on strike at Medieval Times about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles in Buena Park, California.

    The dinner theater — where audience members feast on chicken with their hands while watching jousts in a ring — has been flying in actors from its other locations to cover staffing gaps, said Erin Zapcic, who plays a queen at the theater and is among those walking off the job since Saturday.

    The actors, who are part of the American Guild of Variety Artists, said the company has blocked efforts to raise wages and improve safety. Julia McCurdie, who also plays a queen, said actors have been injured on the job.

    “I’ve seen a lot of knights get carried away in an ambulance,” McCurdie said. “These people could go work at In-N-Out and make $25 without hurting their bodies.”

    Daniel J. Sobol, the company’s lawyer, told the newspaper there were only two meetings with the union before its members went on strike and that the show will go on.

    “We have a team of original Medieval Times knights and squires in place, and we look forward to hosting our guests at our already scheduled performances,” Sobol said in a statement.

    Medieval Times operates 10 dinner theaters in locations including Atlanta, Chicago and Toronto.

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  • Nearly 1 million French march in 4th day of pension protests

    Nearly 1 million French march in 4th day of pension protests

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    PARIS — Police were out in force across France on Saturday as protesters held a sometimes restive fourth round of nationwide demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to reform the country’s pension system.

    Over 960,000 people marched in Paris, Nice, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes and other cities, according to the Interior Ministry. Protesters hoped to keep up the pressure on the government to back down, and further action is planned for Feb. 16.

    In the French capital, authorities counted some 93,000 participants, the most to demonstrate in Paris against the pension changes since the protests started last month.

    The weekend demonstrations drew young people and others opposed to the pension proposals who weren’t able to attend the previous three days of action, all held on weekdays.

    This time, though, rail worker strikes did not accompany the demonstrations, allowing trains and the Paris Metro to run Saturday. However, an unexpected strike by air traffic controllers meant that up to half of flights to and from Paris’ second largest airport, Orly, were canceled Saturday afternoon.

    In Paris, some workers and students who wanted to voice opposition attended the protests for the first time, owing to heavy weekday workloads.

    “We often hear that we should be too young to care, but with rising inflation, soaring electricity prices, this reform will impact our families,” Elisa Haddad, 18. said. “It is my first demonstration because I couldn’t attend with uni. It is important that the voice of (France’s) parents and students is heard.”

    French lawmakers began a rowdy debate earlier this week on the pension bill to raise the minimum retirement age for a full state pension from 62 to 64. It’s the flagship legislation of Macron’s second term.

    Saturday’s protests featured flashes of unrest. One car and several trash bins were set on fire on a central Parisian boulevard as police charged the crowd and dispersed protesters with tear gas. Paris police said officers they arrested eight people for infractions ranging from possession of a firearm to vandalism.

    Some demonstrators walked as families through the French capital’s Place de la Republique and carried emotional banners. “I don’t want my parents to die at work,” read one, held by a teenage boy.

    The protests are a crucial test both for Macron and his opponents. The government has insisted it’s determined to push through Macron’s election pledge to reform France’s generous pension system. Of the 38 member nations of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, France is among countries that spend the most years in retirement.

    The president has called the reforms “indispensable” for ensuring the long-term survival of the country’s pension system and noted that workers in neighboring countries retire years later.

    Despite opinion polls consistently showing growing opposition to the reform and his own popularity shrinking, Macron insisted that he’s living up to a key campaign pledge he made when he swept to power in 2017 and before his April 2022 reelection.

    His government is now facing a harsh political battle in parliament that could span weeks or months.

    Strong popular resentment will strengthen efforts by labor unions and left-wing legislators to try to block the bill.

    Unions issued a joint statement Saturday, calling the government “deaf” and demanding French officials scrap the bill. They threatened to cause a nationwide “shutdown” from March 7, if their demands were not met.

    During the previous day of protests four days ago, over 750,000 people marched in many French cities, significantly fewer than on the previous two protest days in January in which over a million people took to the streets.

    ___

    Nico Garriga in Paris contributed

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  • Fourth day of pension reform protests hits France

    Fourth day of pension reform protests hits France

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    PARIS — Police were out in force across France on Saturday as protesters held a fourth round of nationwide demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to reform the country’s pension system.

    Hundreds of thousands of people were expected in the course of the day to march in Paris, Nice, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes and other cities in hopes keeping up the pressure on the government to back down.

    The demonstrations drew young people and others opposed to the pension proposals who weren’t able to attend the previous three days of action, all held on weekdays.

    This time, though, rail worker strikes did not accompany the demonstrations, allowing trains and the Paris Metro to run Saturday. However, an unexpected strike by air traffic controllers meant that up to half of flights to and from Paris’ second largest airport, Orly, were canceled Saturday afternoon.

    In Paris, some workers and students who wanted to voice opposition attended the protests for the first time, owing to heavy weekday workloads.

    “We often hear that we should be too young to care, but with rising inflation, soaring electricity price, this reform will impact our families,” Elisa Haddad, 18. said. “It is my first demonstration because I couldn’t attend with uni. It is important that the voice of (France’s) parents and students is heard.”

    French lawmakers began a rowdy debate earlier this week on the pension bill to raise the minimum retirement age for a full state pension from 62 to 64. It’s the flagship legislation of Macron’s second term.

    Saturday’s protests began peacefully, although Paris police said they arrested one person for possession of a firearm and detained several others for vandalism.

    Some demonstrators walked as families through the French capital’s Place de la Republique and carried emotional banners. “I don’t want my parents to die at work,” read one, held by a teenage boy.

    The protests are a crucial test both for Macron and his opponents. The government has insisted it’s determined to push through Macron’s election pledge to reform France’s pension system, one of the most generous in the world.

    The president has called the reforms “indispensable” for ensuring the long-term survival of the country’s pension system and noted that workers in neighboring countries retire years later.

    Despite opinion polls consistently showing growing opposition to the reform and his own popularity shrinking, Macron insisted that he’s living up to a key campaign pledge he made when he swept to power in 2017 and before his April 2022 reelection.

    His government is now facing a harsh political battle in parliament that could span weeks or months.

    Strong popular resentment will strengthen efforts by labor unions and left-wing legislators to try to block the bill.

    Unions issued a joint statement Saturday, calling the government “deaf” and demanding French officials scrap the bill. They threatened to cause a nationwide “shutdown” from March 7, if their demands were not met.

    A further strike is planned for Feb. 16.

    The last day of protests, four days ago, saw over 750,000 people marching, representing significantly fewer than on the previous two protest days in January in which over a million people took to the streets.

    ___

    Nico Garriga in Paris contributed

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  • UK economy avoids decline but cost of living pains many

    UK economy avoids decline but cost of living pains many

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    LONDON — The small notice pinned to a wall at Union Chapel in north London is a sign of despair for charity workers dealing with the fallout from Britain’s cost-of-living crisis.

    The showers, it says, are reserved for the homeless. In other words, those who still have a roof over their heads but can’t afford to heat water for bathing are in essence asked to refrain.

    Amanuel Woldesus, who runs the Margins Project charity based at the church for people in crisis, is frustrated that he’s being forced to ration a service this way.

    “We are the sixth-richest country in the world, and who is making these decisions? Me! Not the government,” he said with a mixture of anger and incredulity. “It’s just completely wrong.’’

    The pressures are likely to get worse as Britain faces a prolonged economic slowdown triggered by soaring food and energy prices and compounded by tax increases and higher interest rates that authorities have unleashed as they battle the crisis.

    That gloomy outlook was underscored Friday when the Office for National Statistics said the British economy stagnated in the final three months of last year. Monthly estimates suggest that economic activity slowed further at the end of the year, with gross domestic product shrinking 0.5% in December.

    While Britain avoided a second consecutive quarter of declining economic output — one definition of a recession — the data offered little relief for hard-pressed families and businesses. The rising cost of living has driven months of strikes by nurses, ambulance workers, train drivers and other public-sector employees seeking higher pay.

    Middle-class families will see their disposable incomes fall by as much as 13%, or 4,000 pounds ($4,840), over the next financial year, according to analysis by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research. About 25% of households won’t be able to pay their food and energy bills out of their take-home income, up from 20% last year, the independent think tank estimates.

    “The U.K. will likely avoid a protracted recession in 2023, but GDP growth is set to remain close to zero,” the institute said. “However, with the cost-of-living crisis having a lasting effect on households, for at least 7 million it will certainly feel like a recession.”

    For people across the U.K., that means turning down the heat and skipping showers to save money on gas and electricity bills after energy prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    It also means constantly hunting for bargains or resorting to food banks after food prices jumped 16.9% last year.

    Carlton Peters, 57, a chef for the Margins Project’s twice-a-week free lunch program, said he now buys all of his own food in the reduced-price section of the supermarket and has cut out butter because it is too expensive.

    The government isn’t doing enough to address the crisis because politicians don’t understand what average people are going through, Peters said.

    “They don’t know what it’s like to live with your fixed income and you have to spend it and shuffle it around with all your bits and pieces,” he said. “And when something goes up, they don’t complain. We complain. We say the price of milk has gone up by 20% and eggs 40%. That can’t be right.”

    The government says its policies, including a cap on gas and electricity prices that is designed to limit average household energy bills to 2,500 pounds ($3,027) a year, have reduced the severity of Britain’s economic downturn.

    While a recession is often defined as an extended period of economic decline, experts disagree on exactly how to determine when a recession begins.

    The U.S. and European Union have independent bodies that look at a wide range of indicators, including unemployment, consumer and business spending, before deciding whether their economies are in recession. Britain does not.

    That left commentators anxiously awaiting the fourth-quarter report to see whether Britain had met the technical definition of a recession, often described as two consecutive quarters of declining output. The U.K. economy shrank by 0.2% in the third quarter.

    On Friday, Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt focused on the fact that GDP expanded 4% for all of 2022, more than any other Group of Seven advanced economy. But that growth occurred in the early part of the year, before inflation spiked.

    “The fact that the U.K. was the fastest-growing economy in the G-7 last year, as well as avoiding a recession, shows our economy is more resilient than many people feared,” he said. “However, we are not out the woods yet, particularly when it comes to inflation.”

    Regardless of the technicalities, the global economic slowdown is hitting Britain harder than other major economies.

    Inflation in the U.K. remains at levels last seen in the early 1980s. Consumer prices rose 10.5% in December from a year earlier after peaking at 11.1% in October. By contrast, U.S. inflation slowed to 6.5% in December.

    Britain also is facing a drop in trade with the European Union as a result of its departure from the bloc and increasing taxes for consumers and businesses as the government tries to balance the budget and reduce debt.

    More troubling for economic forecasters is an increase in the number of people aged 50 to 65 who are leaving the workforce prematurely, reducing productivity.

    All of that is reducing consumer spending and business investment.

    Britain’s economy is likely to shrink 0.6% this year, the only advanced nation expected to decline, the International Monetary Fund said last month.

    The Bank of England expects the slowdown to last throughout 2024, even though it says the recession will be shallower than previously forecast. The central bank has raised interest rates 10 times since December 2021 in an effort to slow inflation.

    At Union Chapel, it pains Woldesus to watch the struggle of families unfold before him every day. The free meals he serves on Mondays and Wednesdays may be the only real food his guests get each week.

    “The situation is so dire,” he said. “I can see it moving in front of me.”

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  • Lower turnout in renewed protests over French pension reform

    Lower turnout in renewed protests over French pension reform

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    PARIS — Hundreds of thousands of French marched in a third round of protests Tuesday against planned pension reforms, while new nationwide strikes disrupted public transport and schools, as well as power, oil and gas supplies. Turnout at the demonstrations was lower than on previous occasions.

    Train passengers were expected to face more delays Wednesday, with two rail unions calling to extend their strike by 24 hours.

    The protests came a day after French lawmakers began debating a pension bill that would raise the minimum retirement from 62 to 64. The bill is the flagship legislation of President Emmanuel Macron’s second term.

    Over 750,000 people marched in Paris, the cities of Nice, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes and elsewhere, according to the Interior Ministry. That’s fewer than on the last protest, on Jan. 31. The nearly 60,000 protesters in the French capital marched from the Opera area across the city carrying placards reading “Save Your Pension” and “Tax Billionaires, Not Grandmas.” The strike disruptions were also milder than on Jan. 31.

    France’s current pension system “is a democratic achievement in the sense that it is a French specialty that other countries envy,” said one protester, media worker Anissa Saudemont, 29.

    “I feel that with high inflation, unemployment, the war in Ukraine and climate change, the government should focus on something else,” she added.

    Much of the Paris march was peaceful, but there were flashes of unrest; police said officers detained 17 people for “throwing projectiles” and alleged vandalism.

    French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne defended the government plan Tuesday but suggested there was room for adjustments.

    “I’m convinced there are points of agreement to be found. I’m convinced that we can improve this text together. It will be through debate, confronting ideas and, of course, respect,” she said, noting graffiti that appeared on the meeting place of the National Assembly, including a door marked with “60.”

    If nothing is done, Borne said, taxes and social charges will increase, along with unemployment and lower purchasing power. That would would cost retirees with modest pensions and “all those who worked all their lives, and certainly not the big bosses,” she said.

    “Voila, your alternative project,” Borne said.

    Last week, an estimated 1.27 million people demonstrated, according to authorities, more than in the first big protest day on Jan. 19. More demonstrations, called by France‘s eight main unions, are planned for Saturday.

    Rail operator SNCF said train services were severely disrupted Tuesday across the country, including on its high-speed network. International lines to Britain and Switzerland were affected. The Paris metro was also disrupted.

    Saad Kadiui, 37, a consulting cabinet chief who had to go through a disrupted Paris train station Tuesday, said he did not support the “wearisome” strikes. “There are other ways to protest the pension reform,” he said.

    Kadiui said he supported the principle of the pension reform but wanted the bill to be improved in parliament. “I think that for some jobs, 64 is too late,” he said.

    Train travel in France is set to remain disrupted into Wednesday. The CGT-Cheminots and SUD-Rail unions on Tuesday evening extended their members’ walkout by a day. SNCF said the action would lead to delays or cancellations in up to a third of high-speed trains.

    Workers in oil refineries have said they also plan to continue their strike action into Wednesday.

    Power producer EDF said the protest movement led to temporarily reduced electricity supplies Tuesday, without causing blackouts. More than half of the workforce was on strike at the TotalEnergies refineries, according to the company.

    The Education Ministry said close to 13% of teachers were on strike, a decrease compared to last week’s protest day. A third of French regions were on scheduled school breaks.

    Macron vowed to go ahead with the changes, despite opinion polls showing growing opposition. The bill would gradually increase the minimum retirement age to 64 by 2030 and accelerate a planned measure providing that people must have worked for at least 43 years to be entitled to a full pension.

    The changes are designed to keep the pension system financially afloat. France’s aging population is expected to plunge the system into deficit in the coming decade.

    The parliamentary debates at the National Assembly and the Senate are expected to last several weeks.

    Opposition lawmakers have proposed more than 20,000 amendments to the bill debated on Monday, mostly by the left-wing Nupes coalition.

    Philippe Martinez, secretary general of the powerful CGT union, called on the government and lawmakers to “listen to the people.” Speaking on French radio network RTL, he denounced Macron’s attitude as “playing with fire.”

    Macron wants to show that “he is able to pass a reform, no matter what public opinion says, what the citizens think,” Martinez asserted.

    Rancor over the pension plan went beyond parliament’s raucous debate. The speaker of the lower house, the National Assembly, reported that the bill had triggered anonymous voicemails, graffiti and a threatening letter to the head of the chamber’s Social Affairs Committee.

    “That’s enough,” Yael Braun-Pivet tweeted. “These acts are an attack on our democratic life. … We won’t tolerate it.”

    Several lawmakers from the far-right National Rally party received voicemails during Monday’s debate saying that loved ones were hospitalized, in an apparent ploy to make them leave the assembly.

    Party leader Marine Le Pen filed a complaint via a letter sent to the Paris prosecutor.

    ____

    AP journalists Sylvie Corbet, Oleg Cetinic and Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed.

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  • Day of disruption in UK as hundreds of thousands join strike

    Day of disruption in UK as hundreds of thousands join strike

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    LONDON (AP) — Thousands of schools in the U.K. closed some or all of their classrooms, train services were paralyzed and delays were expected at airports on the biggest day of industrial action Britain has seen in more than a decade, as unions stepped up pressure on the government Wednesday to provide better pay amid a cost-of-living crisis.

    The Trades Union Congress, a federation of unions, estimated that up to a half-million workers, including teachers, university staff, civil servants, border officials and train drivers, went on strike across the country.

    More walkouts, including by nurses and ambulance workers, are planned for the coming days and weeks.

    Months of strikes have disrupted the daily routines of Britons as a bitter dispute between unions and the government over pay and working conditions drags on. The simultaneous strikes across multiple industries on Wednesday marked an escalation of the unions’ protest actions.

    The last time the country saw mass walkouts on this scale was in 2011, when well over 1 million public sector workers staged a one-day strike in a dispute over pensions. Others on strike Wednesday ranged from museum workers and London bus drivers to coast guard personnel and officers who staff passport booths at airports. The British Museum was closed Wednesday because of the strikes.

    Union bosses argue that despite some pay increases, such as a 5% offer the government proposed to teachers, the U.K.’s soaring inflation has plunged scores of public sector workers into financial difficulty because their wages have failed to keep pace. Teachers, health workers and many others say their wages have fallen in real terms over the last decade, and the surge in living costs that began last year exacerbated the problem.

    The Trades Union Congress, or TUC, said Wednesday that the average public sector worker is 203 pounds ($250) a month worse off compared with 2010, once inflation is taken into account.

    Inflation in the U.K. stands at 10.5%, the highest in 40 years, driven by skyrocketing food and energy costs. While some expect price increases to slow this year, Britain’s economic outlook remains grim. On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund said the country will be the only major economy to contract this year, performing even worse than sanctions-hit Russia.

    The National Education Union said some 23,000 schools would be affected Wednesday, with an estimated 85% fully or partially closed.

    “The government have been running down our education (system), underfunding our schools and underpaying the people who work in them,” Kevin Courtney, the NEU’s joint general secretary, said. “Primary schools where you can’t find special needs assistants, because they’re taking jobs in supermarkets where they are paid better. That’s what’s making people take action.”

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told lawmakers that teacher strikes were “wrong,” and claimed his government had already given teachers their biggest pay raise in 30 years.

    “Our children’s education is precious, and they deserve to be in school today,” he said.

    His office argued that pay increases for public sector workers would not be affordable for taxpayers and could lead to tax hikes, more government borrowing or spending cuts elsewhere.

    Union leaders blame the government for refusing to negotiate and offer enough to halt the strikes.

    Workers were also angered by the government’s plan to introduce a new law aiming to curb strike disruptions by enforcing minimum service levels in key sectors, including health and transportation. Unions have criticized the legislation as an attack on the right to strike

    Lawmakers backed the bill on Monday. Thousands of people turned out in London, Manchester and other cities Wednesday to protest the proposal.

    TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said industrial unrest would continue until the government puts an acceptable pay offer on the table.

    “The message to the government is that this is not going to go away. These problems won’t magically disappear,” he said.

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  • Strikes, protests test French plan to raise retirement age

    Strikes, protests test French plan to raise retirement age

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    PARIS — Workers in many French cities took to the streets Thursday to reject proposed pension changes that would push back the retirement age, amid a day of nationwide strikes and protests seen as a major test for Emmanuel Macron and his presidency.

    Demonstrations gathered thousands of people in the cities of Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes, Lyon and other places as strikes were severely disrupting transport, schools and other public services across the country.

    French workers would have to work longer before receiving a pension under the new rules — with the nominal retirement age rising from 62 to 64. In a country with an aging population and growing life expectancy where everyone receives a state pension, Macron’s government says the reform is the only way to keep the system solvent.

    Unions argue the pension overhaul threatens hard-fought rights, and propose a tax on the wealthy or more payroll contributions from employers to finance the pension system. Polls suggest most French people also oppose the reform.

    More than 200 rallies are expected around France on Thursday, including a large one in Paris involving all France’s major unions.

    Laurent Berger, head of the CFDT union, called the government’s plans a “unfair” reform on BFMTV and called on workers to “peacefully come (to the streets) to say they disagree.”

    Police unions opposed to the retirement reform are also taking part, while those who are on duty are bracing for potential violence if extremist groups join the demonstrations.

    A majority of trains around France are canceled, including some international connections, according to the SNCF rail authority. About 20% of flights out of Paris’ Orly Airport are canceled and airlines are warning of delays.

    Electricity workers pledged to reduce power supplies as a form of protest.

    The ministry of National Education said some 34 to 42% of teachers were on strike, depending on schools. High school student unions were expected to join the protests.

    Thierry Desassis, a retired teacher, called the government’s plan “an aberration.”

    “It’s at 64 that you start having health problems. I’m 68 and in good health but I’ve started seeing doctors more often,” he said.

    The strike was also affecting some monuments. The Versailles Palace was closed on Thursday while the Eiffel Tower warned about potential disruptions and the Louvre Museum said some exhibition rooms will remain closed.

    Many French workers expressed mixed feeling about the government’s plan and pointed to the complexity of the pension system.

    Selim Draia, 48, an animation artist, said some changes may be needed “but rushing through it like this — I think the country is divided and polarized enough to take the time to have a conversation.”

    Quentin Coelho, 27, a Red Cross employee, felt he had to work Thursday despite understanding “most of the strikers’ demands.” With an aging population in the country, he said, raising the retirement age “isn’t an efficient strategy. If we do it now, the government could decided to raise it further in 30 or 50 years from now. We can’t predict.”

    Coelho said he doesn’t trust the government and is already saving money for his pension.

    Liliane Ferreira Marques, a 40-year-old Brazilian saleswoman from Boussy-Saint-Antoine, south of Paris, said she supports the strikers’ demands but can’t afford to go on strike because she is “paid barely the minimum wage.”

    French Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt acknowledged “concerns” prompted by the pension plans that will require from workers “an additional effort.” He called on strikers not to block the economy of the country. “The right to strike is a freedom, but we do not want any blockades,” he said, speaking on LCI television.

    Dussopt justified the choice to push back the retirement age because the government rejected other options involving raising taxes — which he said would hurt the economy and cost jobs — or reducing pension amounts.

    The French government is formally presenting the pension bill on Monday and it heads to Parliament next month. Its success will depend in part on the scale and duration of the strikes and protests.

    The planned changes provide that workers must have worked for at least 43 years to be entitled to full pension. For those who do not fulfil that condition, like many women who interrupted their career to raise their children or those who studied for a long time and started working late, the retirement age would remain unchanged at 67.

    Those who started to work early, under the age of 20, and workers with major health issues would be allowed early retirement.

    Protracted strikes met Macron’s last effort to raise the retirement age in 2019. He eventually withdrew it after the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

    ____

    AP Journalist Alexander Turnbull contributed to the story.

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  • New York City nurses return to work after deal ends strike

    New York City nurses return to work after deal ends strike

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    NEW YORK — Two New York City hospitals have reached a tentative contract agreement with thousands of striking nurses that ends this week’s walkout that disrupted patient care, officials announced Thursday.

    The nurses, represented by the New York State Nurses Association, walked out early Monday after negotiations with management ran aground at Mount Sinai Hospital, in Manhattan, and Montefiore Medical Center, in the Bronx. Each has over 1,000 beds and 3,500 or more union nurses.

    Nurses began returning to work at both hospitals Thursday morning, with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul greeting returning nurses at Mount Sinai just before dawn.

    Hochul, a Democrat, said that with the new three-year contract, “they’ll receive a well-deserved 19% pay increase here. Also better benefits, higher wages for those with higher education, and again, a working environment that allows them to focus on patient care.”

    The union has stressed staffing levels as a key concern, saying that nurses who labored through the grueling peak of the coronavirus pandemic are stretched far too thin because too many jobs are open. Nurses say they have had to work overtime, handle twice as many patients as they should, and skip meals and even bathroom breaks.

    The agreements with both hospitals include concrete, enforceable staffing ratios, the union said. The agreement with Montefiore also included what the union described as community health improvements and nurse-student partnerships to recruit local nurses from the Bronx.

    “Through our unity and by putting it all on the line, we won enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai where nurses went on strike for patient care,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said in a statement. “Today, we can return to work with our heads held high, knowing that our victory means safer care for our patients and more sustainable jobs for our profession.”

    The privately owned, nonprofit hospitals say they have been grappling with a widespread nursing shortage that was exacerbated by the pandemic.

    “Our bargaining team has been working around the clock with NYSNA’s leadership to come to an agreement,” Montefiore said in a statement. “From the outset, we came to the table committed to bargaining in good faith and addressing the issues that were priorities for our nursing staff.”

    The hospital said it focused on ensuring the nurses had “the best possible working environment, with significant wage and benefit enhancements” through the deal with the union.

    “We know this strike impacted everyone — not just our nurses — and we were committed to coming to a resolution as soon as possible to minimize disruption to patient care,” the hospital said.

    Mount Sinai said in a statement it was pleased to have reached a tentative agreement and that the strike was over.

    “Our proposed agreement is similar to those between NYSNA and eight other New York City hospitals. It is fair and responsible, and it puts patients first,” Mount Sinai Health System said.

    Several other private hospitals around the city reached deals with the union as the strike deadline loomed. The agreements included raises totaling 19% over three years.

    Mount Sinai and Montefiore said before the strike that they had offered the same pay boosts.

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  • Nurses at 2 NYC hospitals return to work as deal ends strike

    Nurses at 2 NYC hospitals return to work as deal ends strike

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses at two New York City hospitals ended a three-day strike Thursday after reaching a tentative contract agreement that union officials said will relieve chronic short staffing and boost pay by 19% over three years.

    Nurses began returning to work Thursday morning at Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center. Each of the privately owned, nonprofit hospitals has over 1,000 beds and 3,500 or more union nurses, represented by the New York State Nurses Association.

    Nurses are set to vote next week on ratifying the tentative deals, which union President Nancy Hagans called “truly groundbreaking.”

    “They set a new standard for safe staffing, for respect and for quality care for all,” she said at a news conference.

    Mount Sinai said its proposed agreement was “fair and reasonable, and it puts patients first.” Montefiore, which agreed to hire 170 more nurses, said it worked to ensure nurses “have the best possible working environment, with significant wage and benefit enhancements.”

    “We know this strike impacted everyone — not just our nurses — and we were committed to coming to a resolution as soon as possible to minimize disruption to patient care,” Montefiore said in a statement.

    The walkout began early Monday and prompted the hospitals to postpone non-emergency surgeries, tell many ambulances to go elsewhere and transfer some patients, including some intensive-care infants at Mount Sinai. Temporary nurses and even administrators with clinical backgrounds were tapped to fill in, and some patients noticed longer waits and more sparsely staffed wards.

    The union stressed staffing as a key concern, saying that nurses who labored through the grueling peak of the coronavirus pandemic are stretched far too thin because too many jobs are open. Nurses say they have had to work overtime, handle twice as many patients as they should, and skip meals and even bathroom breaks.

    The hospitals said they have been grappling with a widespread nursing shortage that was exacerbated by the pandemic.

    The agreements with the hospitals include concrete commitments to better staffing levels — and new provisions to enforce them, the union said. Hagans suggested that the enforcement provisions, which the union didn’t immediately detail, had been a key factor in finally reaching a deal early Thursday.

    Ashleigh Woodside, a Mount Sinai operating room nurse who walked the picket line, was both glad the strike was over and pleased with what came out of it.

    The tentative deal “was what we fought for, and all of our hard work paid off,” she said by text after working her shift Thursday. “I’m glad we stood our ground.”

    “Now we just have to stay united and enforce our contract,” added Woodside, who has been a nurse for eight years.

    Gov. Kathy Hochul greeted returning nurses around dawn at Mount Sinai’s Manhattan campus. Hochul, a Democrat, described the planned pay increases as well-deserved and said the tentative deal would foster “a working environment that allows them to focus on patient care.”

    At Montefiore, the provisional agreement includes renovating the emergency room and reopening some closed areas to end a longstanding problem of patients being treated on beds in hallways while waiting for space elsewhere in the Bronx facility, Hagans said.

    “It was very important to our members that there were no more hallway patients,” she said.

    Several other private hospitals around the city reached deals with the union as the strike deadline loomed. Those agreements also included 19% raises over three years, an increase that Mount Sinai and Montefiore said they also offered before the strike.

    According to the union, the average starting salary for one of its nurses statewide is currently about $50 an hour. No figures specific to Mount Sinai and Montefiore were immediately available.

    Negotiations are ongoing without a strike at a couple of smaller private hospitals in the city. Hagans said she was confident a deal would come soon.

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  • UK trains disrupted again as workers stage fresh strikes

    UK trains disrupted again as workers stage fresh strikes

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    LONDON (AP) — Commuters returning to work on Tuesday after the Christmas break were advised not to travel as tens of thousands of British rail workers stage a fresh round of strikes that will disrupt services all week.

    Around half of the U.K.’s railway lines are closed, and only one-fifth of services are running amid a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions.

    Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union were striking Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, while drivers in the Aslef union will strike Thursday. Many places, including most of Scotland and Wales, have no train services.

    Transport Secretary Mark Harper urged union leaders to come to the negotiating table and said the government has offered a “very fair pay offer.” But union boss Mick Lynch said officials have not put forward any fresh proposals and suggested the government was blocking an agreement.

    “What we keep hearing is the same stuff from the government across the sectors that they want to facilitate an agreement, but they don’t actually do anything,” Lynch told Sky News from a picket line at London’s Euston train station.

    Train companies and the government argue they need to change the way the rail network operates to control costs after the coronavirus pandemic reduced passenger traffic and changed commuting patterns.

    But rail workers, like others who work in the public sector, say wages have failed to keep pace with the skyrocketing cost of living. Inflation in the U.K. has soared to a 41-year high of 11.1%, driven by sharply rising energy and food costs.

    Nurses, airport baggage handlers, ambulance and bus drivers and postal workers were among those who walked off their jobs in December to demand higher pay.

    Ambulance staff are set to strike again on Jan. 11 and 23, while nurses will do the same Jan. 18-19.

    Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents National Health Service organizations, urged the government to reopen talks with unions over pay. He said the last thing hospitals needed was four days of strikes in January as they grappled with too few staff and high demand exacerbated by more flu and COVID-19 cases.

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