Thoughts on a French Strike

Not only is the SNCM highly indebted, but its annual losses amount to nearly half its revenues. This percentage far surpasses the budgetary deficits of any country, including Greece. One reason the SNCM loses so much money is the exorbitant rates of pay and other benefits enjoyed by its workers, members of the left-wing union, the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT). Not only does the SNCM employ more workers proportionately than its rival, the privately owned Corsica Ferries, an Italian company that operates on other routes from France to Corsica, and whose services I am informed are much better; but its workers are also paid more per hour, work fewer hours, and enjoy longer holidays than those of Corsica Ferries workers. I don’t know for certain, but I would be prepared to bet quite a lot of money that the sickness rate of SNCM workers was higher than that of Corsica Ferries workers as well.

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