25, March 2020
Coronavirus and the race to save jobs: European governments step in to pay wages 0
Tens of millions of jobs are now at risk from the coronavirus pandemic, with entire industries being shut down to keep the virus from spreading. Governments across Europe are spending billions on wage subsidies in a desperate effort to save jobs and cushion the economic blow.
A spike in unemployment is a triple threat to a country’s economy: consumer spending and tax revenues drop, while social welfare costs skyrocket.
The International Labour Organization estimates that almost 25 million jobs could be lost worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Governments across Europe are using public money to try to secure jobs through the crisis by paying or reimbursing companies that have seen their revenues dry up. Their goal: to keep employees on the payroll so they can resume working when businesses re-open.
Here are some of the plans to help individuals that have been announced so far.
France
As the number of cases of the virus began to rise, the French government extended its system of chômage partiel, or partial unemployment.
When a company is forced to reduce or suspend work, it can apply for state funding of 70 percent of an employee’s gross salary, to a maximum of €6,927 per month.
As of March 24, 730,000 workers were being paid under this scheme. The finance ministry has already set aside €8.5 billion in funding but that amount is expected to rise.
With schools and crèches (nurseries) closed, the French government is also giving paid leave to parents who cannot work from home and who are responsible for children younger than 16.
The annual winter embargo on evicting tenants from residential properties has also been extended to May 31.
Germany
Berlin has expanded its short-time allowance, or Kurzarbeitergeld, to include companies that cut working hours as a result of the coronavirus.
It pays at the same level as unemployment benefits: Up to 67 percent of net wages lost due to shorter hours, to a maximum of €6,700 per month.
Tenants who are unable to pay their rent will be protected from eviction until September 30, although back rent will be owed when the economic situation improves.
United Kingdom
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will see the UK government reimburse companies for 80 percent of gross salaries up to a maximum of £2,500 (€2,714) per month.
This can be backdated to March 1, with the system in place initially for three months.
Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “placing no limit on the amount of funding available for the scheme”.
Ireland
A new temporary wage subsidy will allow affected companies to recoup up to 70 percent of salaries from the Irish government to maintain current employment levels, with a maximum of €410 per week (€1,777 net per month).
Special arrangements have been made for the childcare sector, which include the state paying all the wages of crèche workers as well as contributing to other running costs. The aim is for parents to be able to stop paying fees and still be guaranteed a place when the crèche reopens.
Italy
As part of the economic package adopted on March 16, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government extended a series of “social shock absorbers”.
They include paying up to 80 percent of an employee’s salary for a period of nine weeks to a maximum of €1,130 net per month.
Self-employed people have also been awarded a one-off payment of €600.
Spain
The existing provision for temporary layoffs, known as ERTE, has been expanded to cover businesses affected by the virus. Up to 70 percent of salaries will be paid, with a maximum of €1,412 per month.
The Spanish government has also ordered utility companies to maintain services to all “vulnerable” households, even if they are unable to pay their bills.
Trouble ahead
These temporary packages come at a steep cost to the taxpayer but, if successful, they will help economies recover more quickly when the outbreak recedes.
Economists are nonetheless warning of a deep recession to come. A key economic survey published by IHS Markit on Tuesday showed the largest collapse in eurozone business activity on record.
And despite the quick moves to shore up economies, some warn it may not be enough.
So far, “policymakers’ efforts to date have failed to brighten the darkening picture”, said IHS Markit chief business economist Chris Williamson, in a statement accompanying the survey results.
Bell, of BMO Global Asset Management, wrote in an economic update on Tuesday that government measures “will do no more than blunt the blow to economies and families”.
Source: France 24
12, April 2020
Overtime for French coffin industry as COVID-19 deaths surge 0
It’s a grim truth that times are good for the coffin business when they’re bad for people, and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception.
At a factory belonging to Europe’s largest coffin maker, OGF, in eastern France, workers are doing overtime to meet demand from families parting with their loved ones.
“Due to the epidemic, we decided to manufacture just four models of coffins that are top sellers with families” compared to the 15 types usually on offer, said factory director Emmanuel Garret.
The change “allowed us to optimise production”, he added.
Output has risen to 410 coffins per day, compared to 370 normally.
Workers are putting in nearly an extra hour per day.
“People have been forewarned and are ready to come in and work on Saturdays,” said Didier Pidancet, who heads up the team that selects the wood for the coffins.
France has been one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus.
“We’re proud to be participating in this national effort, we’re doing our best to ensure that victims can have their final overcoat, as we say,” added Pidancet.
– No shortages –
Founded in 1910, the factory in the town of Jussey originally produced wood charcoal and flooring. At the outset of World War II it began to specialise in making coffins.
It is now part of the OGF Group, which has two factories including the one at Jussey, and makes one in four coffins used in France.
The 10 hectare (25 acre) site is responsible for the entire process of producing coffins. It strips the logs, cuts then dries the wood, which is eventually crafted and assembled into coffins.
The wood, mostly oak, comes from local forests.
While temporarily cutting back on the number of models, the factory has made another adjustment: it has been making more larger coffins.
“Orders for larger sizes are up a bit,” said Garret, although he declined to draw a link to reports that COVID-19 mortality rates are higher for overweight people.
While many manufacturers have encountered problems as lockdown restrictions complicate deliveries, the Jussey factory is well stocked.
“We’re OK, we have three months of stocks of wood, glue, nails and varnish,” said Garret.
– ‘Play our part’ –
Some of the factory’s workers are no strangers to previous surges in deaths.
“During the 2003 heatwave we increased production to 500 caskets a day,” said David Theurez, a 30-year veteran at the site.
The heatwave, which claimed nearly 15,000 lives in France, was in some ways more difficult for the factory as they had no warning and had to call workers back from vacation.
“But today, it’s a bit different, you have to protect yourself as well with masks and gloves,” said Theurez.
“It’s a collective crisis, we all have to make an effort and play our part,” he added.
The factory’s workers themselves haven’t gone unscathed: three have come down with COVID-19.
Fifteen others are at home, forced into isolation by existing serious health issues, or because they have to mind their children as school has been cancelled.
Like many other French companies, the factory has had difficulty obtaining protective gear for all of its employees.
It had a local seamstress make masks for employees and work stations are disinfected regularly.
The factory’s director thinks that the rapid adoption of social distancing measures and protective gear has helped them avoid more cases as eastern France has been hard hit with coronavirus infections.
“Fingers crossed,” said Garret.
Source: AFP