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| Fifth Column |
| Cinema stormed in Cannes protest |
| 2004-05-15 |
| FRENCH showbusiness workers protesting plans to cut their benefits occupied a cinema at the Cannes Film Festival today, leading to clashes with police that left at least six people injured. Police forcibly ousted about 100 protesters who had stormed the Star cinema in downtown Cannes to disrupt the movies and force out filmgoers. Windows at the theatre’s entrance were shattered, and riot police wearing helmets and wielding plastic shields used batons to disperse the crowd, witnesses said. Police said five people were taken into custody. Three officers and three protesters were injured, and one protester was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for a head injury. The protesters had broken off from a broader protest by showbusiness workers. French anti-globalisation activist Jose Bove and US filmmaker Michael Moore, whose documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 is showing at Cannes, joined about 500 others for the peaceful march. Moore, probably thought they were lining up for a feed The scuffles affected screenings in a sideline event at Cannes for distributors, directors, producers and others in the industry. They had no effect on the main conference centre where most movies are shown. Actors, stage hands and others in the performing arts have been locked in a standoff with the French Government over planned reforms to a unique unemployment fund for artists that accounts for downtime between performances. Medef, the powerful French business federation that helps operate the system, has pushed to reduce the benefits. The Government has moved to ease the reforms, but many protesters say not enough has been done. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #2 Allow me to engage in hate speech. Mandated full benefits for the movie house popcorn vendor is a bad idea. A healthy society should have some entry level jobs so that there is a place for teenage kids to enter into the employment arena. Mandating full benefits and a "living" wage of $20K or more a year locks out kids. Nobody is going to take a chance and hire a kid with purple hair and a pin through his eyebrow for $20k with the sincere hope that he will be a reliable employee for $20k and benefits. I, personally, wouldn't hire any employee with that type of pending investment without a resume demonstrating that somebody else took a chance on him/her. It's just survival for an employer that you don't blindly roll the dice and start chunking out a change to a goof that may or may not start dropping the F-bomb on every third customer because its extremely hard to fire a $20K employee with benefits. The results of a mandated "living" wage pay scale is social disaster. The Mandate removes the impetus for people to strive for more challenging jobs. The mandate throws a roadblock in front of those who want to enter the workforce to start their resume and earn some quick cash. In the end the mandate rewards the first company that can bring the automatic popcorn vendor to market quickest. If you want to tax me for an extra stipend for a working single mom's benefits, I prefer that. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-05-15 4:29:47 PM |
| #1 Is there anyone over there who's not on the government tit? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-05-15 3:06:34 PM |