16/01/2007
Talks on wearing work, especially early retirement for workers in very demanding jobs, are stalled in France. The General Secretary of the CFDT, François Chérèque said on Tuesday, 16 January, that work accidents and occupational diseases killed more people each year than road traffic accidents, and called for physically wearing work to be made a “national cause”.

To build workers’ awareness on the issue, the central labour body has called a national day of action to get the negotiations kick-started. The talks came out of the 2003 Pensions Act, where tighter retirement conditions were sweetened by the promise to take more account of the special case of workers worn down by particularly taxing jobs (night work, assembly line work, carrying heavy loads, exposure to noise or toxic products).

Source: Le Monde, 16 January 2007