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AROUND THE WORLD 3: French Employees Protest Holiday Ban

Millions of workers in France took a day off on May 16, 2005, in protest of the government’s decision to scrap a once traditional bank holiday. A bank holiday is a day where many businesses and schools are closed in observance. In the United States, Martin Luther King Day in January and Labor Day in September are considered bank holidays.

Nearly half of all the shop owners and postal delivery workers either refused to go to work or went on strike, an action that caused much of the public transportation in the city of Nantes, located on the western portion of France, to be disrupted.

The government in France decided to cancel the holiday known as Pentecost Monday after a heat wave in 2003 caused the deaths of about 15,000 people, most of whom were pensioners, or people who rely on pension.

Officials argued that an extra day of work was necessary for the country to catch up financially on its social programs and help pensioners and others who were most affected by the effects of that summer’s heat.

Protesters contested that the government was being hypocritical in taking away the holiday. Many labor unions believed that the action unjustly benefited rich people in France and was an unfair threat to the country’s social model.

The holiday strike comes at a time when Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is heavily campaigning for a referendum, or vote, on the proposed European Constitution. The proposal would loosen the country’s 35-hour workweek.

--Written by Leah Williams

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