There has been a resurgence of strike activity in France recently. Social conflict has long been brewing there. Now it boiled over when the government decided to give effect to a “reform” of the labour market by decree, as it was bound to be defeated in Parliament.

The unions claimed the law would undermine workers’ rights by loosening rules covering the engagement and firing of workers by bosses. The government argued that in this way, bosses would be tempted to hire more frequently and hire more workers.  At present they keep back from doing so as to avoid having to carry the financial burden when redundant employees have to be retained on the payroll.

Ironically the law is being passed by a socialist government. Some recall how the German social-democrat government led by Gerhard Schroederhad introduced a similar set of measures some thirteen years ago. In Frankfurt at the time, I witnessed workers demonstrating against them.

Schroeder persisted. He lost the following election. The German economy underwent a revival. Since then, the German chancellor has always come from the right.

Do French socialists run the risk of suffering the same fate? 

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Big projects

Those who point out that the announcement of many big projects all at once is not necessarily a good thing, do have a point. It holds even more if the implementation of all such projects is targeted for the same period.

Politically they might generate a sense of optimism -- the so-called feel-good factor, though I doubt whether this has remained operative following the fiascoes of projects like that of Smart City, among others.

Even so, one notes how sometimes, huge projects are announced, but once this is done, they are quickly forgotten.

To compound matters, we seem to lack personnel with the right technical training and the ability to remain sufficiently objective, who when assessing the impact of projects, understand in advance what consequences they will bring in their wake.

If they were available, we might perhaps have avoided such disasters as the ones at Chambrai and Tigne. Their very existence is a shame.

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Lehen is-Sewwa

Long years had passed since I last read it. This week I got the idea of buying a copy of “Leħen is-Sewwa”, for you can find it now on sale at newsagents. It had a good presentation with an emphasis on reports featuring ecclesiastical activities, as well as a number of articles dealing with moral and social aspects of contemporary life.

Nowhere did I find the acerbic and polemical style that I remember in the issues of “Leħen is-Sewwa” I used to read at my grandmother’s during the sixties of the previous decade.

However this is what disappointed me: I well remember the guide that used to be published in those days about films being exhibited in Malta. It would explain why these films were being given a classification that could range from fit for all, to fit for adolescents, adults, adults with reservations, and to banned for all.

As a boy I would be most interested to learn the descriptions given for films that appeared in the last category.

But today’s “Leħen is-Sewwa” does not carry a film guide! Not any more!