“La sabiduría de la vida consiste en la eliminación de lo no esencial. En reducir los problemas de la filosofía a unos pocos solamente: el goce del hogar, de la vida, de la naturaleza, de la cultura”.
Lin Yutang
Cervantes
Hoy es el día más hermoso de nuestra vida, querido Sancho; los obstáculos más grandes, nuestras propias indecisiones; nuestro enemigo más fuerte, el miedo al poderoso y a nosotros mismos; la cosa más fácil, equivocarnos; la más destructiva, la mentira y el egoísmo; la peor derrota, el desaliento; los defectos más peligrosos, la soberbia y el rencor; las sensaciones más gratas, la buena conciencia, el esfuerzo para ser mejores sin ser perfectos, y sobretodo, la disposición para hacer el bien y combatir la injusticia dondequiera que esté.
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES Don Quijote de la Mancha.
La Colmena no se hace responsable ni se solidariza con las opiniones o conceptos emitidos por los autores de los artículos.
5 de octubre de 2015
Air France Workers Rip Shirts From Top Managers in Jobs Protest
Air
France executives were forced to flee with their clothes in tatters
after workers stormed a meeting at Charles de Gaulle airport in protest
at 2,900 planned job cuts.
Human resources chief Xavier Broseta
and Pierre Plissonnier, head of long-haul flights, scaled an eight-foot
fence to escape, aided by security guards. Broseta emerged shirtless and
Plissonnier had his suit ripped to shreds.
Security officers escort Air France's Pierre Plissonnier away, after employees invaded Air France offices.
Photographer: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
Violence
erupted Monday as Air France told its works council that 300 pilots,
900 flight attendants and 1,700 ground staff might have to go after
failed productivity talks with flight crew. The protest, in which
agitators chanted “naked, naked,” is just the latest to turn physical in
France, where managers at Michelin & Cie. and Sony Corp. have been
held hostage over firings, irate farmers have blocked city streets with
tractors and manure, and more than 100 Uber Technologies Inc. taxis were smashed up by rival drivers.
‘Scandalized’
“These
attacks were made by isolated and particularly violent individuals as
the demonstration by personnel on strike was going on calmly,” Air
France said in an e-mailed statement, adding that a complaint had been
filed for aggravated violence.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls
said he was “scandalized” by the levels of violence, adding that
“nothing justifies such outbursts.”
HR chief Broseta said on
Europe 1 radio that he was “personally shocked and disappointed” by his
ordeal, though didn’t blame the workforce as a whole, and that a return
to labor talks was still “possible.” Air France unit head Frederic Gagey told RTL radio that seven people were hurt, including a guard who suffered a head injury.
The
carrier postponed the meeting and said it won’t be deflected from cuts
that could include the first forced dismissals since the 1990s.
Air France human resources chief Xavier Broseta scales a fence away from protesters in Roissy-en-France, today.
Photographer: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
Under the savings plan announced today, Air France’s fleet would be reduced by 14 jets to 93, with orders for Boeing Co. 787s scrapped and aging
Airbus Group SE A340s phased out. The Air France-KLM Group unit
indicated there was scope for compromise should unions come forward with
serious savings measure.
Air France said last week it was
planning cuts to jobs, jets and routes in the absence of a deal with
pilots, who had been asked to work more hours for the same pay to help
end annual losses that began in 2011. Government ministers had urged the
sides to continue talking so that jobs could be saved.
The
changes would require a shrinking of Air France’s network, with the
termination of five routes and the elimination of 35 weekly frequencies
by 2017. Asia, where competition is toughest, would be worst affected.
Employees of Air France wave CGT union flags as they demonstrate at the company headquarters today.
Photographer: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
Job
cuts couldn’t be implemented before mid-December at the earliest, given
French legal requirements, leaving about two months for the two sides
to agree an alternative way forward, should negotiations resume.
Chief Executive Officer
Alexandre de Juniac has forced the showdown with pilots after last year
being defeated in plans to establish a low-cost airline outside of
France when crews walked out for two weeks, costing the airline 500
million euros ($564 million) and prompting the government to intervene.
Air
France hasn’t recently fired workers outright, relying on attrition and
early retirement packages to reduce the payroll by 9,000 over three
years. The last time it sought to dismiss staff, in 1993, weeks of
walkouts cost the job of CEO Bernard Attali.
