This morning, we were checking out the world news before work and some team mate stumbled across this. For those of you who can't read Spanish: the European Ministers of Labour have finally accorded to regulate temporary work and to give temporary workers (more than one third of the total labour force in Spain, if I recall right, and a big fat problem for all) the same rights as their "permanent" colleagues. Wow! Oh, and additionally, now anyone will be legally able to work up to 60-65 hours per week "if (s)he wants". SAY WHAT?
Not that I have any more hope in the EU -- but some of the decisions they've been making in the past years are beyond belief. Somewhere my colleague read that the decision was justified because of the need to make our economy more competitive (!), in regards to the world crisis forecasts and China's economic expansion. I'd love to say "you lot brought us here, now you get us out", but I don't think that any politician would listen to me.
Apart from being enraged and feeling suddenly more revolutionary, we were curious about how this piece of news was being handled by the media of other countries. Spain had opposed the reform (good), even though they didn't vote against it, probably in fear of reprisal (...bunch of cowards), so it was guaranteed that the Spanish media (or, at least, the media allies of the Government; some others remain strangely silent) would do their best to protest it.
But it was really a shock to read how Le Monde or the Frankfurter Allgemeine faced the news. Okay, both are conservative newspapers from two countries that have actively supported the law change, but both France and Germany are countries with a strong tradition of social rights. Le Monde is more on the victimist side, blaming the UK for everything and the poor "small countries" for not being strong enough to oppose the reform (I feel really small!). The FAZ, on the contrary, was proud of the agreement because it would mean more flexibility at work (sure, "flexibility" is the word), and there was only a mention to the added controversy regarding the maximal working hours. None of these newspapers marked this piece of news as relevant. The Guardian doesn't even feature it; for the UK, it's no news.
Nice! Schön! ¡Chachi!