The president of the UDR wishes to take inspiration from Italy and ban strikes during the Christmas fortnight, the first and last days of vacation departures and public holidays.
One week before the railway workers' strike, the opportunity to regulate this constitutional right is making a comeback in the public debate. “It takes political courage and tackling this problem”affirmed Éric Ciotti on TF1, at war against “strike culture of left and far left unions”. The nationalist deputy for Alpes-Maritimes thus announced the tabling of a bill aimed at limiting the right to strike.
The ally of Marine Le Pen wishes to draw inspiration from what is done in Italy, where it is not possible to strike at certain times of the year, due to “the particular intensity of traffic”. As on the other side of the Alps, Éric Ciotti aims to ban the strike during “the fifteen days of the Christmas truce” as well as the first and last days of all school holidays. On public holidays, a «service minimum 50%» would be assured.
This is not the first time that elected officials have tackled this issue. Last April, senators adopted a bill to “reconcile the continuity of the public transport service with the exercise of the right to strike”. This text proposed to suspend the right to strike “certain emblematic periods, such as those of major departures on vacation” within the limit of 60 days per year.
“The French can’t take it anymore”
For Eric Ciotti, “the right to strike must have a limit: the freedom to work, to move and to live”. With this bill, the president of the Union of Rights for the Republic (UDR) wants to defend “the French who can no longer stand people who have a relatively privileged status taking hostage others who work all year round”.
While the parliamentary niche – a day during which a group has control over the agenda of the National Assembly – of the UDR group will only take place in June, Éric Ciotti “call the government” to address this question. “We have often asked LR. I say to Michel Barnier “go easy!”he said. The nationalist deputy says he is convinced that a majority will emerge for “stop these excesses”. “Just because it’s been going on for a very long time doesn’t mean it has to continue indefinitely.”he concluded, calling for an end to “powerlessness” et “immobility”.
