The comforts afforded union members who work for the state in France have been a drag on the economy for generations. The new president of France, 40 year old Emmanuel Macron, has put forth a new strategy of economic reform to modernize the labor market by restructuring the pay packages of state run operations, starting with the railways.
Yesterday and today, union members have shut down railway operations in protests over Mr. Macron's plans to shakeup their pay and benefit packages. Yea, Mr. Macron. Finally, a man who is not afraid of confrontation to make significant policy changes that HE SAID HE WOULD DO.
So the unionists would have you believe that the end of the world is nigh. Their world: yes, maybe that gravy train at the expense of private workers' income taxes is coming to an end. It's about time. The primitive pay packages have led to a diminished economy over many years. France is looking like its southern neighbors of Italy, Spain, and Greece, all hardly icons of growth and prosperity. They reflect national policies that favor the few over the many. Why should state run monopolies carry more sway over citizens than private risk takers? A good question, surely.
So, the media will delight in publishing photos of civil servants in the streets, protesting changes that will be made in their expected pay and pensions that the average taxpayer can hardly afford to sustain any longer.
Right on, Mr. Macron.
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