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Anger mounts in Europe over job cuts, exec bonuses

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There is a very large difference between having a legal (contractual) right to a bonus & a moral right. Many of the people receiving these bonuses are at the same time watching their fellow workers lose their jobs & yet see nothing wrong in taking their cheques.

It will be hard to condemn the anger expressed by people who are becoming unemployed while many of the people receiving bonuses are the very people who are responsible for the losses that crippled their own companies.

I’m not asking that they show compassion, I’m suggesting common sense & self interest, two years from now many names will be remembered.

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There is a very large difference between having a legal (contractual) right to a bonus & a moral right. Many of the people receiving these bonuses are at the same time watching their fellow workers lose their jobs & yet see nothing wrong in taking their cheques.

I can think of a few execs. whose personality may suggest they would have compassion with their fellow man/woman, but unfortunately the majority of these people have no morals and are just greedy.

I have to say it won't be long before somebody takes the life of an exec in outrage of what is occurring. I invisage a rebellion in some of the European countries against this and the damage caused to Sir Fred Godwin's property, dare he call himself a SIR anymore, will increase over time.

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This is great. The workers now should demand their share in the welth of the country and ensure tehy obtain it by whatever means.

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....held a manager of U.S. manufacturer 3M hostage....led to kidnappings, marches and strikes....an angry march on the presidential palace....a bonfire of tires set alight by workers....Vandals smashed windows early Wednesday at the home of the former CEO....

Karl Marx would be proud.

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il est incroyable, Louis, the peasants are revolting again!

I could remember a long time ago, bonuses were paid according pre-defined targets and not contractual hand shakes

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I remember quite a long time ago (about 10 years) somebody in Australia has predicted that in future "RICH" will become "filthy, dirty" word! Well it is so clear at present.

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Karl Marx would be proud.

Karl Marx is a product of the excesses of capitalism. If capitalists do not want the excesses of the socialism, then they should not be pulling the dumb sh:t they do. Of course that goes the other way also.

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the french are always revolting..any excuse for another day off work.

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Surely holding the boss of 3M is tantamount to kidnapping? I can't believe criminal charges weren't filed. Methinks the Sarkozy government are sh!tting themselves that a general strike could go pear-shaped...

...and when you see the government money wasted by the train-load on les fonctionnaires and le conseil générale and the deputies and yada yada yada - I'm not surprised public anger is mounting.

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They do the angry victims of le globalisation thing well.

Keep at it.

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"They do the angry victims of le globalisation thing well."

Uhm, no - they're protesting about job lay-offs. But who am I to get in the way of you making more stupid comments about France...

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Let us hope that this is the end of Conservative power in France at least. Pay attention. French workers, unlike their American and Japanese counterparts, are not sheep. In France the government is afraid of its people, not the other way around as it is in Japan and the US.

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jean - France has been in an economic crisis for the last 20 years, not the last 20 weeks. And why is that?

20 odd years of socialist ruin.

If the French actually went out to protest for the right reasons, I'd be right behind them. Sadly, it's those that have it best that strike, whilst the rest of us graft.

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Europe will always be quaint and kawaii for me no matter how many Citroens get torched.

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It's apparant that not only Americans are pissed off with executive bonuses, also. Glad to see it.

When the MASSES speak then people start to listen.

When there are little protests, then government and the far right just brush them off. But when you get 1000s of protesters then they can't be ignored so lightly. < :-)

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"French workers burned tires, marched on the presidential palace and held a manager of U.S. manufacturer 3M hostage Wednesday as anger mounted over job cuts and executive bonuses."

Europe is so pathetic.

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Detained 3M manager Luc Rousselet told an AP reporter “Everything’s fine” and workers planned to bring him mussels and French fries for dinner.

If you're going to be kidnapped, France is the place. Excellent cuisine.

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"Europe is so pathetic."

You do realize that this is a compliment, coming from you...

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