Unemployed in France Go On Strike
Unemployed people in France went on strike today, refusing to cash their checks until the government increases benefits. According to a report in Les Echos EnchaÃ®nÃ©s, thousands descended on the streets of Paris this morning to denounce capitalism and to protest their âinhumaneâ unemployment benefits, which average around â¬1,111 (U.S. $1,500) per month and last for at least two years. The protesters blocked traffic for hours along several main thoroughfares while carrying signs reading âUnemployment is Slaveryâ and âGeorge Bush: Hands Off My Money.â They are reportedly decliningÂ to cash their checks until the government at least doubles their monthly stipends and allows the unemployed to claim benefits for five years. âI only receive Â â¬1200 a month in unemployment benefitsâ says Thibault Paresseux, an unemployed playwright from Nantes, âbut I have rent payments. I have to buy food. I canât afford to live my life like this. âMy best friend works for Monoprix and he just bought an Xbox. Â How am I supposed to afford an Xbox on â¬1200 a month? This is a human rights catastrophe. Our government should be ashamed of itself. â France has a very strong social safety net compared to other developed countries. Health care and higher education are almost entirely free and pensions are generous. The hourly minimum wage is â¬9.52 (nearly $13/hr). Although such policies have successfully reduced income inequality, they have also led to massive taxation and the deterioration of the country's finances. In addition, many argue that the stateâs generosity has bred a sense of entitlement and a dependence on government that saps the countryâs economic dynamism. The most prominent examples of this mentality are the frequent strikes by the country's highly-paid public sector workers. Todayâs strike appears to be the first by the unemployed, but organizers say it wonât be the last. âThe unemployed deserve so much more from the government,â says Bertrand Taffepas of the Confederation FranÃ§aise de Chomeurs (CFC), the country's union for people who are out of work. âWe wonât stop until every unemployed person in this country gets a free automobile. I mean, how are people supposed to get to job interviews if they donât have cars?â