That sinister word social

The word social always makes a frisson go up my spine when I hear it on the radio. It's up to no good.

action social = strike

plan social = mass layoff

logement social = housing project (also known as HLM-- pronounced AhshellEM)

conflit social = labor dispute

partenaires sociaux= the bosses (always referred to as le patronat) versus the workers, the government and the media

mouvement social =  labor protest, strike

acquis sociaux [plural]= the things we have fought for, e.g. the 35-hour work week; retiring at 55; six-week vacations; the near-impossibility of getting fired for rudeness or incompetence

Comments

[Marilou]

Funny the way you consider "acquis sociaux"... [the things we have fought for, e.g. the 35-hour work week; retiring at 55; six-week vacations; the near-impossibility of getting fired for rudeness or incompetence]
Why don't you write "12-hour work week; retirering at 35; nineteen-week vacations"? when it's in reality, "retirering at 65", and "five-week vacantions if you're lucky"... and of course "being fired on any dirty pretext if your face or figure doesn't please the boss"...
Sans rancure, but please don't make thing better thant they are!

[Jon]

Ah we laugh at them, but they will always be able to get away with it. I'm happy that Social Democracy is still well alive in France, and it's a pretty good one.

[Flip]

Hello Sedulia,
my answer is not at all a fight against you :)) just a little post related with what the user Marilou (a bit agressive..) has posted.
-------
The funny things with those cliché is that people often quote frenchs civil servants as people that have that much chance because of retiring à 55 ans (wich by the way is now over).

Most of them, more specially a lot of frenchs talk of something that they don't even know. The truth about that is that when you are a french civil servant, you make the choice to serve your country at 100%. What I mean by 100% is that you can not have an other job next to your civil servant job; it's forbidden. You will NEVER be rich.
For example, if you like taking pictures, you cannot sell them. If your brother is creating a society, you cannot spend some free time to help it. You cannot teach a sport if you are good at a sport to have a little more money.

In order to thanks you, the law has wanted that your retirement must be worth your engagement to serve.

I will add that to become a civil servant here, you must pass an competitive examination. Most of the people that complain about the supposed "privileges" of civil servants have no idea of the huge knowledge required to find success with those exams (it has taken me three years of daily school to learn all that)
Most of the people that always complain would never had the patience to learn that. That's why the others who knows are angry when they learn that they are lazy or such things... The door is open, everyone can have a try with the exam..

Kind regards,

==Flip==(=^.^=)-----

[Claire]

Flip,

All you say about civil servants can apply to most of the french (and others!) workers, wherever they work...
Most will never be rich, most have to learn a lot of stuff to be hired... But few will have an early retirment in return of all these investments! ;-)

Claire, french private worker

[fussball]

Gute Arbeit hier! Gute Inhalte.