|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
||
| SEARCH | SUBSCRIBE | ||
Want to support Global Action on Aging? Click below:
Thanks!
|
 |
PARIS, Sept. 7 — Pentecost is one of the most important holidays in Christianity. The 50th day after the resurrection of Christ, it commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. In France, the day after Pentecost is also considered sacred, though for a far different reason. Workers get the day off. Last week, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin floated the idea of abolishing the Monday holiday — one of 11 national holidays — to raise money for improved health care for the elderly after last month's heat wave killed an estimated 11,000 people, most of them elderly and isolated. The idea goes like this: if people work the extra day, they will contribute more to social security, and those payments could be earmarked to give better care in programs for the elderly. The government estimates that the plan could yield almost $2 billion a year. In an interview in Le Figaro on Thursday, Mr. Raffarin called the idea "a true appeal to national brotherhood," saying: "I note that Pentecost Monday is the day most frequently cited. This is a holiday whose abolition would not bring suffering to any belief." The news has been greeted with suspicion and outright opposition, but also surprising support. Holidays in France are part of what is known as the "acquis sociaux" or social conquests, benefits like generous social security and pension benefits and free education through college that are viewed as part of every citizen's birthright. In addition, French workers are working fewer hours since a law inaugurated a 35-hour workweek in January 2000. The law, intended to generate more jobs, requires employers to give workers time off if they exceed the 35-hour limit and puts a cap on the amount of paid overtime workers can work. A number of unions argue that losing the holiday would primarily benefit employers and could be the beginning of a weakening of the 35-hour workweek. Some politicians and commentators have argued that responsibility for the heat wave deaths reflects an erosion of family values, because many of the elderly who died were left alone by relatives. "The idea that every time something is wrong, we have to come up with a Marshall Plan, throw money around when you have no money left, is a weird idea," said Hervé Morin, president of the center-right Union Democratique Française party bloc in the National Assembly. For its part, the southern city of Nîmes is incensed at the idea of eliminating the holiday because the annual running of the bulls takes place there every Pentecost weekend. Anticipating the proposal, which had been rumored in the media before Mr. Raffarin's announcement, Jean-Paul Fournier, the mayor of Nîmes, appealed to the prime minister to change his mind, asserting that the plan would damage the city's tourism industry. Nothing less than the "cultural roots" related to bullfighting and regional traditions would be damaged, Mr. Fournier wrote in a letter to Mr. Raffarin. The Pentecost holiday, he added, "is not only the essential moment of expression of our cultural exception, but also a very strong social bond, indispensable to the cohesion of our city." But Ernest-Antoine Seillère, head of the employers' federation known as Medef, called the holiday proposal "tremendous," adding, "The idea that we might solve some problems by actually working more is a real first in France." A telephone poll of 810 people done by the polling organization Conseil, Sondage, Analyse in late August indicated that 71 percent of the respondents said they would be willing to work an extra day to help the country's elderly. Other holidays have been initially ruled out for consideration either for religious reasons — Easter Monday, Ascension Thursday, Assumption, All Saints' Day and Christmas — or their importance to national identity — Labor Day, Bastille Day, Armistice Day and Victory Day. Msgr. Michel Dubost, the bishop of Évry and a former army chaplain, said this week that he favored the abolition of both the Pentecost day off and Victory Day, celebrated on May 8, marking France's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. The heat wave sent temperatures up to 104 degrees and resulted in 11,435 more deaths than usual in August. The extent of the deaths shocked the country and set off outrage over the government's mishandling of the emergency. Mr. Chirac has ordered Mr. Raffarin to present a plan by October on how the country can better care for the elderly, and eliminating the holiday would be part of that plan. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
