The conservative party of Angela Merkel (CDU) just make a new turn to conquer the center-left electorate for the election scheduled next year. Once he was fiercely opposed for several years, the union of conservative Chancellor has finally decided to support the introduction of a minimum wage in Germany.

Holding that the adoption of a "generalized minimum wage" in German might undermine negotiations between industry by industry employers, unions and employees, the CDU had long opposed the project.

But the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced the development of a bill going in this direction. According to his plan, an apolitical committee comprising representatives of employers and employees will be trained to fix a minimum wage at the federal level. This committee will reassess the amount of income each year. Industrial areas that have already negotiated a minimum wage, will not be affected by the introduction of national minimum wage, even if its level is lower. It remains to convince liberal allies of the Chancellor. Advocate for the Mittelstand, the SME network which is the strength of German industry, the FDP strongly opposes the minimum wage.

Centrist electorate

By offering a new bone of contention with the FDP, the Chancellor has again demonstrated that it has no intention of taking gloves with the Liberals in disarray. Her greatest hope is to cut the grass under the feet of his rival Social Democrats and environmentalists, who planned to make the minimum wage one of their main proposals for the parliamentary elections in September 2013. Since coming to power in 2005, Angela Merkel has pushed his party to focus on issues traditionally left – environmental issues, education and child protection – to seduce the centrist electorate. The Chancellor made his most dramatic turnaround last year after the disaster of Fukushima, deciding in the closure of German nuclear power stations and programming for 2022 abandonment of atomic energy. Von der Leyen hopes his proposal will offer a minimum wage "huge boost" to the CDU at the regional elections scheduled May 13 in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous regional state of Germany.

The CDU, however, risk of alienating some of its traditional supporters. "The disastrous consequences of such solutions can be found in European countries that have adopted similar rules, and judge Dieter Hundt, president of German Employers (BDA). Once again it is the weakest who suffer from these measures, because this will complicate their entry into the labor market. "The unions believe instead that the shortage of manpower across the Rhine to help negotiate end of the precariousness of wages.

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They are young, teeming with ideas, with a bright professional future and – especially – refuse to see leave a ruined world. The crisis that is sweeping the Western economies over the past four years and upsetting the global equilibrium leads to a resurgence of activism among young entrepreneurs. Alongside institutional think tanks – Davos and other circles of economists – forums bringing together young leaders "of tomorrow" are multiplying on the planet. And, more recently, now these kids want to be heard from their elders.

One of the oldest forums, the St. Gallen Symposium will meet for the 42nd time in Switzerland, 3 and 4 May. 200 young entrepreneurs, teachers or students compare their ideas to "deal with the risks" threatening the planet, watched by 600 business leaders or senior officials, including several "guest stars" – Josef Ackermann (Deutsche Bank) and Jean -Claude Trichet (former President of the ECB).

But in the East also arise new think tanks wanting to prove that their young entrepreneurs are equally able to invite the sharing of growth. Created in Rhodes in 2010, the Youth Forum, an offshoot of the think-tank based Time Youth in the Czech Republic is one of them. His goal, happy idealist, is "to reconcile the views of emerging nations" to "lay the foundations for a better future."

300 youth from 70 countries, activists, environmentalists, industrialists but also specialists in new technologies meet once a year to get to know and "create the world of their dreams," aided by economists or experts phenomena societal. All under the protective wing of the "Global Forum of World Civilization".

Groundswell

The forum that promotes traditional values ​​intends to "strengthen cultural exchanges on an equal basis," says one who directs, Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways and close to Vladimir Putin. "Clearly, today, we can not conceive of unilateral world." Fed on an example that of Russia: "We have in our country 190 nationalities and 80 different faiths cohabiting together, and the only way to achieve this is to let mingle our histories and traditions on an equal footing, without that one takes precedence over the other, "says the Russian leader.

A speech that collects a strong chord with young activists from the developing world, who want to invite to the table of developed countries. "The bipolar world is finished," said the businessman and political leader of India, Sam Pitroda at the last Youth Forum held in New Delhi in late March. "The American model based on consumption can not agree to the three billion poor people who have access to anything," he added. For the latter, which could contribute to the post of President of India, in 2013, "we must build a new world, a new model, based on connectivity."

Anecdotally, even idealistic, seen from France, young people reflect these forums, in fact, a fundamental shift, in parallel with the emergence of Brics, from which emerges a desire to make its voice heard on a global scale, for the fast-growing economies. And when one is surprised to see yet few young Europeans to participate are answered on the side of the Youth Time, that "the ultimate goal is obviously to attract more young Western entrepreneurs, to enhance dialogue and exchanges. "

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"Combining Growth and Development

In a mobile market completely disrupted by the arrival of Free Mobile, Bouygues Telecom said it had lost 159,000 customers, of which 134,000 went to Free Mobile. This represents 1.4% of its fleet of 11.3 million mobile customers. Last week, Orange announced that it had lost, for its part, 201,000 mobile customers in total, or 0.7% of its fleet.

Result, Bouygues Telecom expects a decline of 10% of its turnover in 2012 to 5.14 billion euros. The arrival of Free Mobile is not the only cause. Martin Bouygues, CEO of the group, also cited pell-mell "regulation, the end of the differential termination, terminal costs, Chatel law which is one of the most protective for the consumer."

To resist, the group announced a plan to reduce costs this year. "Our goal is a plan to save 300 million euros, which will be achieved in part through new commercial offerings but also using our flexibility on external loads," said Martin Bouygues. The group, which has 9,800 employees in late 2011, should not undergo abrupt reduction of the workforce. "By cons, what is clear is that staffing levels, recruitment Bouygues Telecom are completely blocked (…). We will let the natural decline to do, "he said, adding that cost savings could affect contractors, subcontractors and suppliers.

"Free Mobile makes the cuckoo"

Bouygues Telecom is also focusing on innovation. The group decided to have a strong positioning in the offers "bare" (without telephone and commitment, 100% web) with B & You, and with the offers services through Eden. It will market its new box with the Sensation "the most powerful processor market and offers the largest VOD thanks to agreements with TF1," said Martin Bouygues. He announced that the band would embark on the next generation mobile (4G) this year and was pleased to have obtained frequencies' en o "- in the band 800 MHz – stressing" they allow a very good coverage inside buildings. "

Martin Bouygues has admitted that the offer of Free Mobile was very aggressive. "But it is by no means a reflection of its production costs. Free Mobile is the cuckoo on the Orange network, he said. The telecom industry is a fixed cost. If someone could have a variable cost structure, if there was distortion of competition, it would in my view extremely serious, "he added, without elaborating.

On the roaming agreement that allows to use the Free Mobile network Orange, Martin Bouygues considers it "would not be unusual that this contract be made public, since the two competitors know, and two others not." All these topics should be discussed at the meeting between Martin Bouygues Telecom and Constable (ARCEP). "If we must suffer and die, it will be the fault of the regulator," he concluded.

Yesterday, Bouygues share lost 2.09%, to 23.88 euros, while the action Iliad (Free) clôturait on a record 99.55 euros, up 2.10%.

]]> http://amarnathindustries.com/134000-bouygues-telecom-customers-left-at-free/feed/ 0 http://amarnathindustries.com/small-employers-hiring-freeze/ http://amarnathindustries.com/small-employers-hiring-freeze/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:20:54 +0000 admin http://amarnathindustries.com/small-employers-hiring-freeze/  

Small businesses with fewer than 20 employees (TPE) through a difficult period. "They are in survival mode. They no longer have the slow growth of France, said Jean-Marc Jaumouillé, director of professional techniques in Fiducial. They suffered more in 2011 than in 2008 and 2009. They did not contribute to wealth creation in the second half of last year. Only 20% showed an increase in their revenues above inflation. "

According to the 45th quarterly barometer of TPE made by Ifop for Fiducial, small employers have not created jobs last year. 82% have stabilized their numbers. 10% have cut jobs. They are only 7% have increased their staff. "This is one of the worst year for employment since 2002," says Jean-Marc Jaumouillé.

Small employers monitor carefully the evolution of the payroll. They were limited to 1.7% wage increases for their employees last year. However, the situation varies across sectors. A company has upgraded four of less than 1% wages. 18% gave an increase of more than 4%. They are all to have frozen wages.

Assuming a stabilization of their sales in the first quarter, small businesses are cautious for 2012. The average wage increases should be limited to 1.2%. But 42% of small employers that will provide zero or less than 1%. "One good sign. For the first time since 2008, a perceived tightening of access to credit has fallen to 15% while it was never dropped below 20% since 2008, "says Jean-Marc Jaumouillé.

Employees overtime takers

While the debate on working time is one of the key topics of the presidential campaign, half of the patrons of TPE (49%) practice a working week not exceeding 35 hours, against 44% in October 2007 . One in ten exceeds 39 hours, against 21% in October 2007. "The law Tepa introduced in August 2007 that would allow firms to relax the 35 hours has had limited impact. She did not call for air hoped, "says Jean-Marc Jaumouillé.

As in October 2007, 47% of businesses use regularly to overtime. TPE over eight in ten (82%) pay them according to the legal scale. One in three places recoveries. One in five exceptional bonuses.

For their part, employees are increasingly likely to want to work overtime. They are 55% to 26% against the wish five years ago.

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The European Investment Bank (EIB) – the financial arm of the European Union – has granted 61 billion in new loans to about 70 countries in 2011. A level down compared to the historical peak reached in 2009 (79 billion euros), years during which the Bank was actively involved in the economic recovery of the Old Continent. But a level that remains particularly high compared to the average pre-crisis.

Most of these loans – 54 billion on 61 – was awarded to Europe. One way for the EIB to support the activity declining in Europe. In this context, France has been particularly well served. The Hexagon has received over 5 billion euros in loans, representing 9.2% of EU commitments. A figure up from 7.78% awarded in 2010.

Research projects

The Bank took part in the financing of the LGV Sud Europe Atlantique, TGV and Britain Pays de la Loire. It has also been associated with the electric car developed by the Bolloré Group and funded to the tune of 100 million euros of joint research projects with Pierre Fabre Laboratories.

Outside of the European Union, the EIB lent 7 billion in accession countries and has been linked directly to the Partnership in Deauville, which followed the Arab Spring. Nearly 1 billion euros in loans have been granted to the private sector in 2011, especially for infrastructure development in Arab countries that experienced democratic revolution.

Dexia has confirmed to be entered into exclusive negotiations "with a group of international investors that the government of Luxembourg will attend" to sell its subsidiary private bank, the BIL (Banque Internationale à Luxembourg). This discussion has actually been mainly engaged with the sovereign fund of Qatar, several sources indicate.The Luxembourg Finance Minister, Luc Frieden, for his part justified the participation of the Grand Duchy as a "minority shareholder" in the name of "systemic" to his country of BIL's 12 billion euros of deposits and forty traditional bank branches.

The first assignment could be raised on Saturday by the Board of Directors of Dexia, intended, according to a close case, to "calibrate the overall strategy of the division of Dexia."