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World

France hit by new wave of strikes against Macron’s pension reform

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  • Reform would raise retirement age to 64
  • Schools, transport networks, refinery deliveries hit
  • Macron: Reform vital to ensure viability of pension system

SAINT-NAZAIRE, France, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Striking workers disrupted French refinery deliveries, public transport and schools on Tuesday in a second day of nationwide protests over President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to make people work longer before retirement.

Crowds marched through cities across France to denounce a reform that raises the retirement age by two years to 64 and which is a test of Macron’s ability to push through change now that he has lost his working majority in parliament.

On the rail networks, only one in every three high-speed TGV trains were operating and even fewer local and regional trains. Services on the Paris metro were thrown into disarray.

Buoyed by their success earlier in the month when more than a million people took to the streets, trade unions which have been battling to maintain their power and influence urged the public to turnout en masse.

“We won’t drive until we’re 64!” bus driver Isabelle Texier said at a protest in Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast, adding that many careers involved tough working conditions.

Others felt resigned ahead of likely bargaining between Macron’s ruling alliance and conservative opponents who are more open to pension reform than the left.

“There’s no point in going on strike. This bill will be adopted in any case,” said 34-year-old Matthieu Jacquot, who works in the luxury sector.

Unions said half of primary school teachers had walked off the job. TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) said 55% of its workers on morning shifts at its refineries had downed tools, a lower number than on Jan. 19. The hard-left CGT union said the figure was inaccurate.

For unions, the challenge will be maintaining a strike movement at a time when high inflation is eroding salaries.

At a local level, some announced “Robin Hood” operations unauthorised by the government. In the southwestern Lot-et-Garonne area, the local CGT trade union branch cut power to several speed cameras and disabled smart power meters.

“When there is such a massive opposition, it would be dangerous for the government not to listen,” said Mylene Jacquot, secretary general of the CFDT union’s civil servants branch.

[1/16] Protesters attend a demonstration against French government’s pension reform plan in Paris as part of a day of national strike and protests in France, January 31, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Opinion polls show a substantial majority of the French oppose the reform, but Macron intends to stand his ground. The reform was “vital” to ensure the viability of the pension system, he said on Monday.

A street march in Paris takes place later in the day.

‘BRUTAL’

The pension system reform would yield an additional 17.7 billion euros ($19.18 billion) in annual pension contributions, according to Labour Ministry estimates.

Unions say there are other ways to raise revenue, such as taxing the super rich or asking employers or well-off pensioners to contribute more.

“This reform is unfair and brutal,” said Luc Farre, the secretary general of the civil servants’ UNSA union. “Moving (the pension age) to 64 is going backwards, socially.”

French power supply was down by 4.5% or 3 gigawatts (GW), as workers at nuclear reactors and thermal plants joined the strike, data from utility group EDF (EDF.PA) showed.

TotalEnergies said deliveries of petroleum products from its French sites had been halted because of the strike, but that customers’ needs were met.

The government made some concessions while drafting the legislation. Macron had originally wanted the retirement age to be set at 65, while the government is also promising a minimum pension of 1,200 euros a month.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has said the 64 threshold is “non-negotiable”, but the government is exploring ways to offset some of the impact, particularly on women.

Hard-left opposition figure Jean-Luc Melenchon, a vocal critic of the reform, said parliament would on Monday debate a motion calling for a referendum on the matter.

“The French are not stupid,” he said at a march in Marseille. “If this reform is vital, it should be possible to convince the people.”

Reporting by Forrest Crellin, Benjamin Mallet, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Leigh Thomas, Blandine Henault, Michel Rose, Dominique Vidalon, Benoit Van Overstraeten; Writing by Ingrid Melander and Richard Lough; Editing by Janet Lawrence

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Business

Twitter’s laid-off workers cannot pursue claims via class-action lawsuit-judge

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Jan 14 (Reuters) – Twitter Inc has secured a ruling allowing the social media company to force several laid-off workers suing over their termination to pursue their claims via individual arbitration than a class-action lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge James Donato on Friday ruled that five former Twitter employees pursuing a proposed class action accusing the company of failing to give adequate notice before laying them off after its acquisition by Elon Musk must pursue their claims in private arbitration.

Donato granted Twitter’s request to force the five ex-employees to pursue their claims individually, citing agreements they signed with the company.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The San Francisco judge left for another day “as warranted by developments in the case” whether the entire class action lawsuit must be dismissed, though, as he noted three other former Twitter employees who alleged they had opted out of the company’s arbitration agreement have joined the lawsuit after it was first filed.

The lawyer who represents the plaintiffs, Shannon Liss-Riordan, said on Monday that she had already filed 300 demands for arbitration on behalf of former Twitter employees and would likely file hundreds more.

Those workers all claim they have not received the full severance package promised by Twitter before Musk took over. Some have also alleged sex or disability discrimination.

Last year, Donato had ruled that Twitter must notify the thousands of workers who were laid off after its acquisition by Musk following a proposed class action accusing the company of failing to give adequate notice before terminating them.

The judge said that before asking workers to sign severance agreements waiving their ability to sue the company, Twitter must give them “a succinct and plainly worded notice”.

Twitter laid off roughly 3,700 employees in early November in a cost-cutting measure by Musk, and hundreds more subsequently resigned.

In December last year, Twitter was also accused by dozens of former employees of various legal violations stemming from Musk’s takeover of the company, including targeting women for layoffs and failing to pay promised severance.

Twitter is also facing at least three complaints filed with a U.S. labor board claiming workers were fired for criticizing the company, attempting to organize a strike, and other conduct protected by federal labor law.

Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru, Nate Raymond in Boston, and Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Angus MacSwan and Deepa Babington

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World

Macron, unions head for French pension reform showdown

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  • Retirement age set to be raised to 64 from 62
  • Unions, left-wing opposition reject the reform
  • Adoption in parliament depends on the right

PARIS, Jan 10 (Reuters) – The French should work two years longer to age 64 before retiring, the government said on Tuesday, announcing an unpopular pension system overhaul that immediately prompted unions to call for strikes and protests.

The right to retire at a relatively young age is deeply cherished in France and the reform will be a major test of President Emmanuel Macron’s ability to deliver change as social discontent mounts over the cost of living.

The reform’s passage through parliament will not be easy. Macron’s government says it is vital to keep the pension budget out of the red. Unions argue the reform is unfair and unnecessary.

“Nothing justifies such a brutal reform,” Laurent Berger, leader of the moderate, reform-minded CFDT union, told reporters after trade union leaders agreed on a nationwide strike for Jan. 19, which will kick off a series of strikes and protests.

An Odoxa poll showed four out of five citizens oppose the higher retirement age.

“I’m well aware that changing our pension system raises questions and fears among the French,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne had told a news conference shortly before.

“We offer today a project to balance our pension system, a project that is fair,” she said, adding that France had to face reality.

Overhauling the pension system was a central pillar of Macron’s reformist agenda when he entered the Elysee Palace in 2017. But he shelved his first attempt in 2020 as the government battled to contain COVID-19.

The second attempt will not be any easier.

“It’s one slap in the face after another,” said 56-year-old Frederic Perdriel during a small protest in the western city of Rennes ahead of Borne’s announcement. “There are other ways to finance pensions than raising the retirement age.”

“BRUTAL, CRUEL”

Macron and Borne will need to win support among conservative Les Republicains (LR) lawmakers in the coming months to pass the reform in parliament.

That looks less challenging than it did a few weeks ago after concessions on the retirement age – Macron had originally wanted it to be 65 – and a minimum pension.

Olivier Marleix, who leads the LR group in the lower house of parliament, reacted positively to Borne’s announcements.

“They heard us,” he said, while asking for more efforts to ensure employment for people close to retirement age.

Even so, LR is divided on the issue, so every vote counts.

The Socialists, the hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) and the far-right’s National Rally were swift to denounce the reform. Left-wing lawmaker Mathilde Panot branded the plan “archaic, unfair, brutal, cruel.”

“The French can count on our determination to block this unfair reform,” the far-right’s Marine Le Pen said.

Under the government plan, the retirement age will be raised by three months per year from September, reaching the target age of 64 in 2030.

From 2027, eight years earlier than planned in past reforms, it will be necessary to have worked 43 years to receive a full pension.

Other measures aim to boost the employment rate among 60 to 64-year-olds, which is one of the lowest among leading industrialised nations.

With one of the lowest retirement ages in the industrialised world, France also spends more than most countries on pensions at nearly 14% of economic output, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Leigh Thomas, Stephane Mahe, Tassilo Hummel, Blandine Henault; writing by Ingrid Melander; editing by Richard Lough, Alexandra Hudson and Josie Kao

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US

U.S. House to vote to block rail strike despite labor objections

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WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES, Nov 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives was set to vote Wednesday to block a rail strike that could potentially happen as early as Dec. 9, after President Joe Biden warned of dire economic consequences and massive job losses.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers will vote Wednesday to impose a tentative contract deal struck in September on a dozen unions representing 115,000 workers.

Pelosi said the House would vote separately on Wednesday on a proposal to give seven days of paid sick leave to railroad employees.

“I don’t like going against the ability of unions to strike but weighing the equities, we must avoid a strike,” she said Tuesday after a meeting with Biden.

Biden had warned Monday of a catastrophic economic impact if railroad service ground to a halt, saying up to 765,000 Americans could lose their jobs in the first two weeks of a strike.

“Congress, I think, has to act to prevent it. It’s not an easy call, but I think we have to do it. The economy is at risk,” Biden said.

Despite the close ties between unions and the Democratic Party, several labor leaders criticized Biden asking Congress to impose a contract that workers in four out of 12 unions rejected over its lack of paid sick leave.

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, one of four unions that voted against the contract, objected to Biden’s call to Congress to intervene, saying “the railroad is not a place to work while you’re sick. It’s dangerous…. it is unreasonable and unjust to insist a person perform critical work when they are unwell.”

There are no paid sick days under the tentative deal after unions asked for 15 and railroads settled on one personal day.

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden meets with congressional leaders including House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 29, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

The union push for paid sick time won support on Capitol Hill, where Senator Bernie Sanders threatened to delay the railroad bill unless he got a vote on the sick time issue.

“Guaranteeing 7 paid sick days to rail workers would cost the rail industry a grand total of $321 million a year – less than 2% of its profits,” Sanders said. “Please don’t tell me the rail industry can’t afford it. Rail companies spent $25.5 billion on stock buybacks and dividends this year.”

Regulators and shippers have accused railroads of cutting staff to improve profitability. The railroads oppose giving their workers paid sick time because they would have to hire more staff. The carriers involved include Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N), Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s (BRKa.N) BNSF, CSX Corp (CSX.O), Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC.N) and Kansas City Southern.

The measure needs a simple majority to pass the House. The bill would require a supermajority of 60 out of 100 votes to pass the Senate.

“I can’t in good conscience vote for a bill that doesn’t give rail workers the paid leave they deserve,” Representative Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat, said on Twitter.

Biden on Monday praised the proposed contract for including a 24% wage increase over five years and five annual $1,000 lump-sum payments.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy also criticized the effort but said “I think it will pass, but it’s unfortunate that this is how we’re running our economy today.”

A rail traffic stoppage could freeze almost 30% of U.S. cargo shipments by weight, stoke already surging inflation and cost the American economy as much as $2 billion per day.

Brian Dodge, president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), said the idea of a rail shutdown “is just absolutely catastrophic” after companies spent the last year and a half trying to untangle gridlock in the supply chain. “We’d be setting ourselves back down that same path and it would take just as long to untangle the next time,” he said.

The U.S. Congress has passed laws to delay or prohibit railway and airline strikes multiple times in recent decades.

Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu; Writing by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Heather Timmons, Lisa Shumaker and Simon Cameron-Moore

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Business

Foxconn’s woes to take bigger toll on giant China iPhone plant as more workers leave – source

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  • Foxconn Zhengzhou plant’s Nov shipments to fall further – source
  • Worker unhappiness at plant escalated into protests this week
  • Over 20,000 workers, mostly new recruits, have left – source

TAIPEI, Nov 25 (Reuters) – Foxconn’s (2317.TW) flagship iPhone plant in China is set to see its November shipments further reduced by the latest bout of worker unrest this week, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday, as thousands of employees left the site.

The company could now see more than 30% of the site’s November production affected, up from an internal estimate of up to 30% when the factory’s worker troubles started in late October, the source said.

The site, which is the only factory where Foxconn makes premium iPhone models, including the iPhone 14 Pro, is unlikely to resume full production by the end of this month, the source added.

The world’s largest Apple (AAPL.O) iPhone factory has been grappling with strict COVID-19 restrictions that have fuelled discontent among workers and disrupted production ahead of Christmas and January’s Lunar New Year holiday, as many workers were either put into isolation or fled the plant.

It has fuelled concerns over Apple’s ability to deliver products for the busy holiday period.

On Wednesday workers, most of whom were new recruits hired in recent weeks, clashed with security personnel at the Zhengzhou plant in central China.

Many claimed they were misled over compensation benefits at the factory, and others complained about sharing dormitories with colleagues who had tested positive for COVID.

Foxconn apologised for a pay-related “technical error” when hiring on Thursday, and later offered 10,000 yuan ($1,400) to protesting new recruits who agreed to resign and leave.

The source said more than 20,000 workers, mostly new hires not yet working on production lines, took the money and left. Videos posted on Chinese social media on Friday showed crowds and long lines of luggage-laden workers queuing for buses.

[1/2] The logo of Foxconn is seen outside the company’s building in Taipei, Taiwan November 10, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang

“It’s time to go home,” one person posted.

Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, declined to comment. Apple, which said on Thursday it had staff at the factory, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

The plant, before its woes began, employed more than 200,000 staff. It has dormitories, restaurants, basketball courts and a football pitch across its sprawling roughly 1.4 million-square-metre (15 million-square-foot) facility.

Another Foxconn source familiar with the matter said some new hires had left the campus but did not elaborate on how many. This person said that because the people leaving had not yet been trained or begun to work, their departures would not cause further harm to current production.

“The incident has a big impact on our public image but little on our (current) capacity. Our current capacity is not affected,” the source said.

“There’s only so much corporate can do on pandemic prevention … It’s been a problem for a while. This is a problem faced by everyone,” the person said, pointing to other worker unrest triggered by rigid COVID restrictions, including upheaval at another Apple supplier, Quanta (2382.TW), in May.

Foxconn shares closed down 0.5%, lagging the broader market, (.TWII) which ended flat.

Hundreds of workers joined protests at Foxconn’s major iPhone plant China’s Zhengzhou this week, with some men smashing surveillance cameras and windows, footage uploaded on social media showed.

($1 = 7.1616 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Reporting By Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree, William Mallard and Gerry Doyle

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Business

Foxconn apologises for pay-related error at China iPhone plant after worker unrest

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  • Foxconn says it is working with staff to resolve disputes
  • Major iPhone factory rocked by protests over pay, conditions
  • Apple says it has team on the ground in Zhengzhou

TAIPEI/SHANGHAI, Nov 24 (Reuters) – Foxconn (2317.TW) said on Thursday a pay-related “technical error” occurred when hiring new recruits at a COVID-hit iPhone factory in China and apologised to workers after the company was rocked by fresh labour unrest.

Men smashed surveillance cameras and clashed with security personnel as hundreds of workers protested at the world’s biggest iPhone plant in Zhengzhou city on Wednesday, in rare scenes of open dissent in China sparked by claims of overdue pay and frustration over severe COVID-19 restrictions.

Workers said on videos circulated on social media that they had been informed that the Apple Inc (AAPL.O) supplier intended to delay bonus payments. Some workers also complained they were forced to share dormitories with colleagues who had tested positive for COVID.

“Our team has been looking into the matter and discovered a technical error occurred during the onboarding process,” Foxconn said in a statement, referring to the hiring of new workers.

“We apologize for an input error in the computer system and guarantee that the actual pay is the same as agreed and the official recruitment posters.” It did not elaborate on the error.

The apology was an about-face from a day earlier when Foxconn said it had fulfilled its payment contracts.

The unrest comes at a time when China is logging record numbers of COVID-19 infections and grappling with more and more lockdowns that have fuelled frustration among citizens across the country. But it has also exposed communication problems and a mistrust of Foxconn management among some staff.

The largest protests had died down and the company was communicating with employees engaged in smaller protests, a Foxconn source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

The person said the company had reached “initial agreements” with employees to resolve the dispute and production at the plant was continuing.

Mounting worker discontent over COVID outbreaks, strict quarantine rules and shortages of food had seen many employees flee the enclosed factory campus since October after management implemented a so-called closed-loop system that isolated the plant from the wider world.

Many of new recruits had been hired to replace the workers who had fled – estimated by some former staff to number thousands.

The Taiwanese company said it would respect the wishes of new recruits who wanted to resign and leave the factory campus, and would offer them “care subsidies”. The Foxconn source said the subsidies amounted to 10,000 yuan ($1,400) per worker.

APPLE RISKS

Home to over 200,000 workers, Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant has dormitories, restaurants, basketball courts and a football pitch across its sprawling roughly 1.4 million square metre facility.

The factory makes Apple devices including the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, and accounts for 70% of iPhone shipments globally.

Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics

Apple said it had staff at the factory and was “working closely with Foxconn to ensure their employees’ concerns are addressed”.

Several shareholder activists told Reuters the protests showed the risks Apple faces through its reliance on manufacturing in China.

“The extreme dependence of Apple on China, both as a (consumer) market and as its place of primary manufacturing, we see that a very risky situation,” said Christina O’Connell, a senior manager for SumOfUs, a nonprofit corporate accountability group.

Reuters reported last month that iPhone output at the Zhengzhou factory could slump by as much as 30% in November and that Foxconn aimed to resume full production there by the second half of the month.

The Foxconn source familiar with the matter said it was not immediately clear how much impact the worker protests might have on production for November and that it might take a few days to work that out, citing the large size of the factory.

A separate source has said the unrest had made it certain that they would not be able to resume full production by month-end.

Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics

Apple has warned it expects lower shipments of premium iPhone 14 models than previously anticipated.

Reuters Graphics

($1 = 7.1353 Chinese yuan)

Reporting by Yimou Lee in Taipei and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Additional reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston, Beijing Newsroom and Yew Lun Tian; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree, Stephen Coates and Edwina Gibbs

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Business

Stick-wielding men smash surveillance cameras at China iPhone plant

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SHANGHAI, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Men wielding sticks smashed surveillance cameras and windows at a massive campus owned by Apple (AAPL.O) supplier Foxconn (2317.TW) in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, scenes broadcast live on the Kuaishou short video platform showed on Wednesday.

Hundreds of workers protested at the campus, home to the world’s largest iPhone factory, where many chanted “give us our pay”. They were surrounded by people in full hazmat suits, some carrying batons.

The images, which could not immediately be verified by Reuters, come after weeks of turmoil which have seen scores of employees flee the factory over COVID-19 controls.

Many former workers have spoken of food shortages and rigid quarantine rules, and Foxconn has had to offer incentives including bonuses to retain or lure workers. read more

Multiple people said on the livestream feeds they were protesting after being informed this week that they would receive their bonuses later than initially promised.

“Foxconn never treats humans as humans,” said one person in social media footage of the scenes.

Two sources with knowledge of the matter said there were protests at the Zhengzhou campus but declined to provide more details.

Foxconn and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As of 0515 GMT, most of the footage had been taken down. Kuaishou did not respond to a request for comment.

Some videos showed people pulling down barriers set up to quarantine areas as part of China’s zero-COVID policy, or arguing with the hazmat-suited personnel.

Other videos showed workers complaining about the food they had been provided with while in quarantine or complaining that there were inadequate curbs in place to contain an outbreak.

Relentless controls and spot lockdowns across China have fuelled discontent across the country, hitting economic growth and escalating concerns over global supply chains as companies grapple to keep factories running as staff become infected.

Foxconn has maintained so-called closed-loop operations at the plant – a system in which staff live and work on-site isolated from the wider world – due to COVID outbreaks in Zhengzhou.

The curbs and discontent have hit production, prompting Apple to say earlier this month that it expected lower shipments of premium iPhone 14 models.

Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, is Apple’s biggest iPhone maker, accounting for 70% of iPhone shipments globally. It makes most of the phones at the Zhengzhou plant where it employs about 200,000 people, though it has other smaller production sites in India and southern China.

Reporting by Brenda Goh and Beijing Newsroom; Additional reporting by David Kirton in Shenzhen and Yimou Lee in Taipei; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Edwina Gibbs

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World

Trains, schools affected as French unions call strike amid soaring inflation

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PARIS, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Regional train traffic in France was cut by about half on Tuesday as several unions called a nationwide strike, seeking to capitalise on anger with decades-high inflation to expand a weeks-long industrial action at oil refineries to other sectors.

There were also some disruption to schools, as the strike primarily affected the public sector.

Trade union leaders were hoping workers would be energised by the government’s decision to force some of them to go back to work at petrol depots to try and get fuel flowing again, a decision some say put in jeopardy the right to strike.

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But a survey by Elabe pollsters for BFM TV showed only 39% of the public backed Tuesday’s call for a nationwide strike, while 49% opposed it, and growing numbers opposed the strike by oil refinery workers.

The refinery workers’ strike has become one of President Emmanuel Macron’s stiffest challenges since his re-election in May.

Government spokesperson Olivier Veran said the requisition of more staff for refineries could occur during the day, as queues of motorists worried about supply disruption grow at petrol stations.

“There will be as many requisitions as deemed necessary … Blocking refineries, when we have reached an agreement on wages, this is not a normal situation,” Veran told France 2 TV.

French students block the entrance of the Lycee Montaigne high school to protest as part of a nationwide day of strike in Paris, France, October 18, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Just under 10% of high school teachers were on strike on Tuesday, with numbers even lower in primary schools, education ministry data showed. The call for strike was most observed in vocational schools, where teachers oppose planned reforms.

On the transport front, Eurostar said it was cancelling some trains between London and Paris because of the strike.

French public railway operator SNCF said that traffic on regional connections was down 50% but that there were no major disruptions to national lines.

As tensions rise in the euro zone’s second-biggest economy, strikes have spilled over into other parts of the energy sector, including nuclear giant EDF (EDF.PA), where maintenance work crucial for Europe’s power supply will be delayed.

A representative of the FNME-CGT union on Tuesday said strikes were affecting work at nuclear power plants, including at the Penly plant.

The strikes are happening as the government is set to pass the 2023 budget using special constitutional powers that would allow it to bypass a vote in parliament, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Sunday.

Demonstrations are scheduled all over the country, with one in Paris from 1200 GMT.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to protest against soaring prices. The leader of hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party, Jean-Luc Melenchon, marched alongside this year’s Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Annie Ernaux.

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Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander, Forrest Crellin and Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Gerry Doyle

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World

Thousands take to the streets of Paris to protest soaring prices

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PARIS, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to protest against soaring prices as weeks of strikes for higher wages at oil refineries spurred demands for a general strike.

The leader of hard-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), Jean-Luc Melenchon, marched alongside this year’s Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Annie Ernaux. He called a general strike for Tuesday.

“You’re going to live a week like no other, we are the ones who started it with this march,” he told the crowd.

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Melenchon followed the footsteps of four unions – but not France’s biggest, the moderate CFDT – which have called for strikes and protests on Tuesday for wage increases.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of French far-left opposition party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), and leader of the New Ecologic and Social People’s Union (NUPES), takes part in a protest against soaring inflation and what they call a lack of government action to fight climate change, in Paris, France October 16, 2022. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

The four unions also called the protests to help protect the right to strike, after the government ordered the requisitioning of some oil refinery workers, a move seen by unions as a violation of their constitutional rights.

The march followed a call by the NUPES parliamentary coalition, which hopes to turn the page on domestic violence accusations that have recently dogged senior members.

Budget Minister Gabriel Attal said the left-wing coalition was attempting to exploit the current situation, marked by ongoing strikes at French utility EDF’s nuclear plants and at French oil refineries.

“Today’s march is a march of supporters who want to block the country,” he said on French radio station Europe 1.

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Reporting by Lucient Libert and Stépahne Mahe; Additional reporting by Bertrand Boucey; Writing by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Nick Macfie

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Business

Biden, unions, rail executives struggle for deal as shutdown looms

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DETROIT/LOS ANGELES, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Biden administration officials hosted labor contract talks late on Wednesday to avert a potential rail shutdown that could disrupt cargo shipments and impede food and fuel supplies, but one small union rejected a deal and Amtrak canceled all long-distance passenger trips.

Railroads including Union Pacific (UNP.N), Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRKa.N) BNSF and Norfolk Southern (NSC.N) have until a minute after midnight on Friday to reach deals with three holdout unions representing about 60,000 workers before a work stoppage affecting freight and Amtrak could begin.

Talks between labor unions and railroads, which started at 9 a.m, were still underway more than 12 hours later after 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday at the U.S. Labor Department’s headquarters in Washington.

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The talks are being overseen by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, with input from other U.S. officials. The parties ordered in Italian food for dinner Wednesday in order to continue discussions.

“Everybody is going to have to move a little in order to get a deal done,” Buttigieg told reporters on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show.

A union representing about 4,900 machinists, mechanics and maintenance personnel said on Wednesday its members voted to reject a tentative deal.

Rail workers have gone three years without a raise amid a contract dispute, while rail companies have recorded robust profits.

In the current talks, the industry has offered annual wage increases from 2020 to 2024, equal to a 24% compounded hike. Three of 12 unions, representing about half of the 115,000 workers affected by the negotiations, are asking for better working conditions.

Two of those 12 unions, representing more than 11,000 workers, have ratified deals, the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), which is bargaining on behalf of railroads, said on Wednesday.

Unions are enjoying a surge of public and worker support in the wake of the pandemic, when “essential” employees risked COVID-19 exposure to keep goods moving and employers reaped hefty profits, labor and corporate experts say.

A shutdown could freeze almost 30% of U.S. cargo shipments by weight, stoke inflation, cost the U.S. economy as much as $2 billion per day and unleash a cascade of transportation woes affecting the U.S. energy, agriculture, manufacturing and retail sectors.

A cargo train is seen near the border between the U.S. and Mexico, in Laredo, Texas U.S. June 3, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One that a shutdown of the freight rail system would be an “unacceptable outcome for our economy and the American people and all parties must work to avoid just that.”

HIGH STAKES FOR BIDEN

President Joe Biden’s administration has begun making contingency plans to ensure deliveries of critical goods in the event of a shutdown.

The stakes are high for Biden, who has vowed to rein in soaring consumer costs ahead of November elections that will determine whether his fellow Democrats maintain control of Congress.

“Unless they reach a breakthrough soon, rail workers will go on strike this Friday. If you don’t think that will have a negative impact on our economy … think again,” said U.S. Senator John Cornyn, a Republican and Biden critic.

Senator Bernie Sanders late on Wednesday objected to a Republican bid to unanimously approve legislation to prevent a rail strike, noting the profits the rail industry has made.

If agreements are not reached, employers could also lock out workers. Railroads and unions may agree to stay at the bargaining table, or the Democratic-led U.S. Congress could intervene by extending talks or establishing settlement terms. read more

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was not clear whether Congress would step in, noting that the main issue is a lack of sick leave for workers.

Amtrak, which uses tracks maintained by freight railways, said it would cancel all long-distance trips on Thursday and some additional state-supported trains. read more

Rail hubs in Chicago and Dallas were already clogged and suffering from equipment shortages before the contract showdown. Those bottlenecks are backing up cargo at U.S. seaports by as much as a month. And, once cargo gets to rail hubs in locations such as Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City and Memphis, Tennessee, it can sit another month or longer.

Package delivery company United Parcel Service (UPS.N), one of the largest U.S. rail customers, and U.S. seaports said they are working on contingency plans.

Meanwhile, factory owners are fretting about idling machinery while automakers worry that a shutdown could extend vehicle buyer wait times. Elsewhere, food and energy companies warn that additional service disruptions could create even sharper price hikes.

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Reporting by David Shepardson and Lisa Baertlein; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason aboard Air Force One; Joe White in Detroit; Chris Walljasper in Chicago and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Will Dunham, Jonathan Oatis, Bill Berkrot and Michael Perry

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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