(Vatican Radio) About a quarter of Air France pilots have gone on strike to demand better working conditions — the latest challenge to travelers and tarnishing France's image as it hosts Europe's biggest sporting event.Listen to Stefan Bos' report: Strikes and demonstrations over the country's labor reforms and other industrial disputes are further complicating efforts to host the European Football Championship Euro 2016, which is also suffering under terror threats and violence.French leaders are frustrated that they have no time to celebrate their country's victorious start to the Euro 2016 football championship after France won the opening match against Romania. Officials had hoped hoped to put terrorism, strikes, and recent deadly flooding at least for some weeks behind them, as the country turns its attention to the European Championship soccer tournament, expected to draw over 2 million visitors.But on Saturday Air France, t...
(Vatican Radio) About a quarter of Air France pilots have gone on strike to demand better working conditions — the latest challenge to travelers and tarnishing France's image as it hosts Europe's biggest sporting event.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
Strikes and demonstrations over the country's labor reforms and other industrial disputes are further complicating efforts to host the European Football Championship Euro 2016, which is also suffering under terror threats and violence.
French leaders are frustrated that they have no time to celebrate their country's victorious start to the Euro 2016 football championship after France won the opening match against Romania. Officials had hoped hoped to put terrorism, strikes, and recent deadly flooding at least for some weeks behind them, as the country turns its attention to the European Championship soccer tournament, expected to draw over 2 million visitors.
But on Saturday Air France, the nation's main airline, said up to a fifth of flights are canceled, both domestic and international. Among those affected were flights carrying spectators to cities holding the matches. It's the latest standoff between unions and the government.
Weeks of strikes and demonstrations over the country's labor reforms and other industrial disputes already led to panic at the pumps, violent protests in the streets and, most recently, garbage rotting in the gutters. Unions are angry at a package of government labor reforms that will give big companies more freedom to hire and fire workers or extend working hours, moves the government says are needed to make France more competitive.
Among the most significant changes is a new rule allowing companies to reach collective pay deals with their own workers rather than having to match national agreements. Another new requirement says at least 50 percent of employees must endorse a pay deal.
UNIONS LOSING?
At present, unions representing only one-third of employees can negotiate pay settlements, and strikers fears the biggest losers could be larger, traditional unions.
Despite the obvious impact on Euro 2016, protesters refuse to end the strikes. "It's important to go on with the strikes, because we must stop this law," an angry woman said.
That's not all. French police have stepped in to break up small groups of mainly British and Russian football fans fighting one another in Marseille
Separately riot police also dispersed crowds with tear gas after mainly English football fans clashed with French locals in the southern city. Several vollies of tear gas were fired to disperse the fans, many of whom appeared to be drinking heavily.
The latest disturbances saw several arrests. That violence comes at a moment when thousands of police and troops are already patrolling the streets amid ongoing terror threats. Yet, French President Francois Hollande made clear he remained confident that Euro 2016 would be a success.
Families, donors, and others gather with Bishop Erik Pohlmeier for the dedication of the "Precious Ones Baby Mausoleum" at the San Lorenzo Cemetery in St. Augustine, Florida, on April 23, 2024. / Credit: Fran Ruchalski/courtesy of the Archdiocese of St. AugustineCNA Staff, Apr 26, 2024 / 09:51 am (CNA).Families gathered with St. Augustine Bishop Erik Pohlmeier on a sunny Tuesday this week for the dedication of the "Precious Ones Baby Mausoleum" at the city's San Lorenzo Cemetery.Six years in the making, the 44,000-pound granite mausoleum is designed for babies lost at a young age through miscarriage, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), or stillborn births. A brick walkway marked by a charcoal cross leads up to the brilliant white mausoleum, which is full of burial spaces that are ready to honor little ones. Miscarriages are common events, and women often suffer through them quietly, one 2018 study found. About 10% to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, usually be...
Kennedy opened up to veteran EWTN News anchorman Raymond Arroyo about his family's strong faith growing up, how his faith helped him overcome drug addiction and how it impacts him in his day-to-day life in the travails of U.S. presidential politics. / Credit: EWTN News "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo" / ScreenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 06:30 am (CNA).Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussed the importance of his Catholic faith in his daily life, his plan to reduce abortions without federal restrictions, and his opposition to biological males playing in women's sports during an exclusive interview on "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo" Thursday night.Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, is running a vigorous independent campaign to be the next president of the United States. He launched an independent bid for the White House last October after initially challeng...
Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 24, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).Asked during a new interview if he has any message for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who instigated the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis stated that "a negotiated peace is better than an endless war."CBS News broadcast some excerpts April 24 from a new interview conducted by journalist Norah O'Donnell with Pope Francis at St. Martha House, the pontiff's residence in the Vatican.During the exchange, the full version of which will be released on May 19, the Holy Father reflected on world conflicts and especially on the suffering of children during wars.O'Donnell asked the Holy Father if he had any message for Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine, to which the pontiff replied: "Please, countries at war, all of them... Stop the war. Seek to negotiate. Seek peace. A negotiated peace is better than an e...