Count to 10,000

[StephenM]

4921

Nice analogy Matias! 

Yeah it’s pretty cosy, helps make small routes possible!

[1993matias]

4922

I like the ERJ more, 1+2 seating is nice

[StephenM]

4923

Embraer make good airplanes! I wonder how popular the E2 will be.

[1993matias]

4924

Competing against a new design it's efficiency vs purchase price, I guess?

[Thunderstruck]

4925

[1993matias]

4926

[Thunderstruck]

4927

Massive strikes in France. A favorite pastime here, but this one is bigger than what we've seen in a while.

[StephenM]

4928

Do people just stay home since so much is impacted or do employers expect people to come in regardless of the challenges?

[1993matias]

4929

Why are they striking this time?

[Thunderstruck]

4930

1 - To keep it simple: they're striking mainly because of pension plan reforms. The government wants to extend the retirement age by several years (+ loss of several other benefits)

2 - Paris has been blocked. I go everywhere by bicycle anyway so it doesn't affect me so much. But many people are working from home, for the types of jobs for which it is possible to do so. Country pretty much at a standstill since yesterday; we will see how long this will last.

[1993matias]

4931

What's the retirement age right now?

[Thunderstruck]

4932

Well that's a complicated question. Average is 62 years, I think (which is already an increase from a few years ago).
But currently, different jobs have different retirement ages. Unions have fought hard for this for years, and it depends on the job.

Train drivers like you have a lower retirement age, because decades ago the job had more danger than nowadays. Metro (subway) drivers have also a low retirement age, because they consider that working years underground in the dark merits an earlier retirement age. Same for police, for school teachers, etc. For instance school teachers (of which several of my friends are), say that it would be so difficult to handle 30 teenagers or kids, when the teacher is 65 years of age. Which is understandable. Generational gap, etc...

There are like 40+ different retirement ages according to the job, and the current government wants to standardize this throughout. Unions and employees are not happy about that.

Reagan killed most unions in the USA decades ago, but here in France they are still protected and alive and kicking! And personally, I support them as long as they remain peaceful. The French have always fought for their rights, since 1789 at least. A few heads were chopped off, back in the day.

What's retirement age in Denmark, is it so complicated?

[1993matias]

4933

I find it a reasonable quest for the government to simplify rules and retirement ages.
In Denmark there is a national retirement fund paid by the taxpayers. The retirement age for that is 67 (I think), but will probably increase for my generation. Other private pension funds have different ages, but it is uncommon for people to retire before the age of 60.
Retirement age is not written into union-workplace-agreements (as far as I know) since it is basically just the national retirement age that is followed.

This might change though, the new government wants to try to make a differentiated retirement age based on how many years a person has worked (i.e. a carpenter starts working at 18 but a doctor maybe not until age 25) to make it more fair than just one retirement age.

The way unions are handled in the US is horrible... What is interesting to note is that Denmark doesn't have a law stating minimum wages, rather, they are all decided in negotiations with the unions. That makes workers feel ownership over the rules - they helped make them. Even if a workplace doesn't officially follow union agreements, they will usually go along with them. Strikes are uncommon, but happen once in a while (just not as disruptive as in France! You guys love strikes!).
In theory a company could just give a 1€ hourly wage in Denmark, perfectly legal, but nobody would work or buy from them. 

[Thunderstruck]

4934

Thanks for the detailed & interesting reply.

We learn much more than just about airplanes here!

[1993matias]

4935

It was random rambling, not much structure to it