GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Hug university hospitals in Geneva late Friday pleaded for everyone involved in its lab workers strike to get the situation back to normal, in the wake of the cantonal council’s announcement Thursday that it will not intervene. At issue: work conditions but also a review of the division of labour. The Conseil d’Etat said Thursday it will not review the issues outside the framework of its Scope project, at the end of 2012. The hospital argue that it does not have the authority to review demarcation disputes over who carries out what tasks. It is taking a number of steps, however, to improve work conditions, it said in a statement released late Friday.
Novartis, near Nyon, had a surprise visit Friday from American boss Joe Jimenez, who talked to employees about efforts to keep the site open. The company announced in October that it is cutting 1,100 staff in Switzerland, including 350 at the Prangins site near Nyon, which would be closed as part of the restructuring measures.
Workers held a one-day strike Wednesday 16 November.
Jimenez Friday told the staff that his wish is to keep the site open, and he is personally involved in efforts to do so. ” He told employees that he intended to visit Prangins and would have done so earlier but for an ultimatic from the Unia union demanding that he come: “I don’t reply to ultimatums,” Jimenez is reported to have said.
“A constructive dialogue with Vaud authorities and the federal government is underway,” Jimenez said in Prangins. “Nevertheless, I would like to point out that Novartis is facing a tough future and that new cost cutting measures are needed if the company is going to maintain its strong investment in R&D.”
The first in a series of scheduled meetings takes place 21 November to seek a solution. It involves a high-level task force involving the company, its employees, the union and government authorities.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – China’s Xinhua news agency is reporting, based on an eyewitness report, that a major fire has broken out in the Qaddafi compound in Tripoli, without further details. The agency’s reporter in Tripoli earlier reported that several major explosions rocked the city Tuesday afternoon 7 June after Nato warplanes flew over the city.
Nato 6 June said that early in the day “aircraft struck a command and control target in Tripoli, specifically a key Qadhafi regime intelligence headquarters building.
The embattled port city of Misrata in Libya has been under heavy attack late Tuesday and Wednesday 27 April, possibly the worst attacks to date, but the picture remains unclear. CNN reports that government troops appear to have shelled areas near the port where refugees are camped, and Nato bombs are being used to fight back pro-Qadaffi forces. Some witnesses have told CNN the shelling was actually 21 miles away, at Tawargha. Reuters reports that Qadaffi forces lost 31 military vehicles to Nato strikes and retreated from the port area during the night but had regrouped in an area 10 miles north of Misrata Wednesday.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - There are clean-cut, clearcut strikes and then there are bearded strikes, the kind that the gendarmes, or highway and roads police, have declared in Geneva.
They are going to work, but they won’t be handing out fines to drivers, they are not wearing uniforms, nor are they shaving (ed. note: we cannot legally photograph Geneva police without prior permission from their superiors).
The cops say that their administrative workload has quadrupled in recent months due to a change in the penal code and they argue that they are not paid enough for night work. The police union agreed at a 16 February general assembly to continue working but to stop handing out fines and “en civile”, ignoring the uniform code and clean-cut regulations.
Isabel Rochat, the councilor who oversees them, held a press conference Friday where she called their demands “unrealistic” and their behaviour an affront to citizens.
Links to other sites: Hebdo (Fr), Tribune de Geneve (Fr), 20 Minutes (Fr)
© 2010 Petroplus Holdings AG
Zug, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Zug-based Petroplus has announced it is shutting down operations at the Cressier refinery indefinitely “due to the labor strike at the southern port in Fos Sur Mer, France, which is disrupting the supply of crude to the refinery. The restart of the refinery is dependent on the outcome of the strike.” The refinery, near Neuchatel, is one of the Switzerland’s two oil refineries.
France has seen major disruptions in its supply of oil products, as strikes at refineries and fuel depots have caused shortages at many petrol stations around the country. The country’s interior minister, Brice Hortefeux, promised 25 October, that 80 percent of gas stations would be operating normally by the following day.
Switzerland consumed 3,283,000 tons of gasoline in 2009, 2.7 percent less than in 2008, a ccording to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE).
The Cressier refinery is capable of supplying 25 percent of all petroleum products sold in Switzerland. Switzerland’s other refinery, in Collomby, canton Valais, is operated by Tamoil.
Students in France are on a ten-day mid-term break but have vowed to continue opposition to President Nicolas Sarkozy’s controversial pension reform plans, which are set to be approved by the Senate on 27 October. The strikes and demonstrations have paralyzed parts of France, leaving others relatively unscathed.
France’s finance minister, Christine Lagarde, has said that the strikes are costing the French economy up to €400 mn a day and threaten a feeble recovery. Seven out of 12 fuel refineries are still closed, all the country’s fuel depots are open, and the energy minister Jean-Louis Borloo says four out of five petrol stations will be operating normally on Tuesday 26 October.
Links to other sites: Al-Jazeera, BBC, Washington Post
Riot police used tear gas to dislodge striking workers at the Acropolis site in Athens, Greece 14 October. Many of the workers are on short-term contracts that will not be renewed at the end of the month because of Greece’s austerity measures. Other workers claim they have not been paid for 22 months.
The historical site, Greece’s most important tourist draw, had been closed for two days. Strikers protesting the austerity measures have closed ports and archeological sites this past summer, often stranding tourists. Tourism is a major element in Greece’s economy, and revenues have been down almost eight percent in 2010.
Links to other sites: BBC, Daily Telegraph, RTT News
French strikers are targeting oil refineries and oil terminals in order to put pressure on President Nicholas Sarkozy’s government to give way on proposed laws on pension reform. Ten of 12 refineries have closed down operations, including all of Total’s, France’s largest refiner.
Police used force to remove striking workers at a major petroleum derivatives depot in Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseilles, early Friday 15 October. The government says that there is at least a one-month supply of petrol and it is asking motorists not to panic. A trip across France by car 14 October revealed normal service station operations and no shortages.
Public transport in Paris is returning to normal, with most Metro lines running normally, and only some intercity rail connections reporting delays.
Links to other sites: Le Figaro (Fre), Libération (Fre), Le Monde (Fre), New York Times
French workers are on strike again Tuesday 12 October, for the third time in the past 30 days, over government plans to raise the age for pensions from 65 to 67, and the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62. But today’s strikes have a different tone, with major unions scheduled to vote at the end of the day over starting rolling strikes, which would mean advance notice for one-day strikes that could be renewed, by vote, at the end of each day.
Half of French flights have been cancelled Tuesday, and rail service and public transport are badly disrupted. A three-week-old strike in Marseilles is blocking oil tankers, pushing up the price of diesel throughout Europe, according to the BBC.
Video, CGT union site: http://www.cgt.fr/
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Up to 50 percent of French flights were reportedly cancelled Thursday 23 September as workers in France held rallies and went on strike for the second time in less than two weeks. The protests are against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s proposal to raise the retirement age.
Train service between France and Switzerland was virtually normal Thursday. According to Swiss newspaper Le Temps the number of protestors varied hugely depending on who you were asking, with the police saying 65,000 people marched in Paris, while the unions insisted it was 300,000.
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – If the football stadium in Basel seems a little more quiet than you would expect for the match between Switzerland and England Tuesday night 7 September, blame Nicolas Sarkozy. According to the UK’s Daily Mail, thousands of England’s fans are being stranded or else staying home, first because of strikes in London that are creating chaos with the Underground tube lines, and then thanks to a 24-hour general strike in France that is affecting transport.
The timing of the French strike has nothing to do with football, unless it’s the political variety: today is the day when President Nicolas Sarkozy presents his controversial pension reform plan to parliament.
The game will be carried live by Swiss television TSR2 (Fre) at 20.10 Tuesday evening.
A general strike Wednesday 5 May has pulled Greece to a standstill as Greeks resist austerity measures announced by the government. Planes, trains and ferries went on strike for 24 hours at midnight, following the lead of the public sector, which began a 48-hour strike Tuesday, crippling the economy.
British Rail Maritime and Transport union workers have voted to strike over changing work practices, just as British Air strike talks broke down, threatening to create travel chaos during the upcoming Easter holidays. The union says that 54 percent of its 5,500 signalers voted to strike. Meanwhile, BA says it is preparing for the three-day strike that begins at midnight tonight, 19 March.
British civil servants are striking for a second day, Tuesday 9 March, over cuts in redundancy pay, while Portugal’s government has announced austerity measures that could match those of Greece. In other world financial news, Aer Lingus announced losses for 2009 of €81 million that are four times the loss in 2008, just three days after cabin crrew rejected a negotiated €97 million plan to cut costs.
Link to other sites: Irish Times, RTE, Ireland, Deutsche-Welle
Reuters news video
Greece has come to a halt Wednesday 10 February as leftist public sector unions brought their members out onto the streets to protest the austerity measures announced by the Socialist government of George Papandreou. The airports are silent as flights in and out of the country have been cancelled because flight controllers stayed at home. Museums and tourist attractions are locked up, boats and ferries are not running, and the bus terminals are quiet. Border crossings are closed as immigration officials and border guards joined the strike. Hospitals are only dealing with emergencies, and many people in private sector jobs walked to work.
European leaders meet Thursday 11 February to debate how to help the Greeks through their worst economic crisis in decades. The European Union’s Maastricht Treaty limits the help the EU may give individual member countries to exceptional cases, but several options are being considered, reports the Financial Times Deutschland. One may be an EU bond issue, guaranteed by its members, allowing Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal to tap those funds.
Markets are reflecting the belief that a solution to help Greece out of its crisis will be found, although a German government spokesman denied that a decision had been made.
Links to other sites: BBC, FInancial Times Deutschland, The Times, Wall Street Journal
Quieter times at Geneva airport's baggage area
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Passengers who lost their luggage in the chaos at the airport this weekend, 2-3 January, should have it today, Monday, or at the latest within 36 hours, says Cointrin Airport spokesperson Bertrand Staempfli. He told GenevaLunch “We’re really sorry for the confusion and the lack of information for some of the time, but we were caught by surprise by the strike.”
EasyJet and Geneva area's Saleve
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - EasyJet is one of three airlines in Spain that face strikes on certain days in August in Spain. EasyJet’s Spanish staff plan to strike 15, 22 and 29 August and say the strikes will affect flights, according to romandie.com. The airline is one of three affected: Spanair and Air Comet are the other two.
EasyJet has flights between Geneva and Barcelona as well as other Spanish destinations.
Subway trains in London, England are likely to come to a halt for two days, with drivers on strike from 19:00 Tuesday 9 June until late Thursday. Their union is calling for higher pay. PR-Inside
British Airways last week told staff that it is seeking 2,000 voluntary redundancies among the 14,000 flight crew members, raising fears of a strike by airline staff this summer, according to the Times. The company announced a £401 pre-tax loss 22 May, the worst in the company’s history, due to a mix of falling business travel, a high pound and high fuel costs. Guardian
After four days of protests over the death of a boy shot by police, a general strike has further “crippled” Greece, with airlines “severely affected” and public transport virtually at a stop. The strike, planned before the boy’s death and the protests, was called for increased pay and to object to planned government spending cuts. International Herald Tribune
Geneva, Switzerland (Le Temps/ATS, Fre) -Some 700 cantonal employees marched in the Old Town in Geneva Tuesday to express their concern over worsening employment conditions.
Lausanne, Switzerland (24 Heures, Fre) – Police and cantonal authorities met Wednesday and failed to reach agreement on pollice salaries as well as payment for the overtime officers put in during the Euro 2008 games. As a result, the refusal by police to issue minor traffic tickets, whose fines are an important source of cantonal revenue, continues.
