Workplace stress and suicide in europe

The financial crisis will touch all of us especially older workers with one
eye on retirement.

However while a LABOUR government is making very few noises about this big
adjustment in labour (in other words permanently less positions). France is
at least sounding concerned about its citizens..
Reading a title like the one below sounds alien in US & UK largely because
anglo governments tend to be dismissive of people in difficulties.
Certainly in this crisis most people losing their jobs are not lazy or bad
workers.. In fact people that should be downsized like traders arranging
for CDOs or derivatives are not & these people have cost our generation our
pensions.

Overall it would help a lot if the richest 1% of each country made many
more sacrifices as a patriotic duty to deal with a huge spate of private
suffering.

Anyway have a read & see what you think.

Labour minister urges companies to prevent staff stress

French Labour Minister Xavier Darcos (photo) asked firms with more than
1,000 employees to lead talks with unions on reducing workplace stress. At
former state-owned monopoly France Telecom, 24 employees have committed
suicide in 18 months.
By News Wires (text)

REUTERS - French companies must prevent stress in the workplace to stem a
wave of suicides, Labour Minister Xavier Darcos said on Friday.
At France Telecom, Europe's third-biggest telecoms firm and a former
state-owned monopoly, 24 employees have committed suicide since the start
of 2008, and others have attempted to kill themselves. An employee of car
maker Renault committed suicide on Wednesday.
"We have long underestimated psychological risks, as it is easier to spot
someone falling into a blast furnace than someone who is suffering," Darcos
told a council on work conditions. "And yet (psychological risks) are real,
as the situation ... at France Telecom has shown in a particularly tragic
way."
Darcos urged 2,500 French firms with more than 1,000 employees to conclude
talks with unions on reducing stress, which labour leaders say is the
reason for the spate of suicides, by Feb. 1 next year.

France Telecom has already begun negotiations which are based on a 2008
agreement with unions.
The government, which is France Telecom's biggest shareholder with 27
percent stake, has been closely involved in trying to manage the fallout
from the suicides.
Unions blame restructuring and work pressure at France Telecom for the wave
of suicides, saying that some staff are being left behind in the firm's
transformation from a staid government agency to a private company with
profit targets and intense competition.
Darcos also called on small and medium-sized companies to put together
measures to provide information on psychological risks and spot problems
with support from workplace health services.
He also called on regional heads of firms in the process of restructuring
to take into account the psychological risks of the transition.
A dedicated advisory body will be created to advise firms and monitor those
which are slow to act.
A report will be made public on a dedicated website,
www.travailler-mieux.gouv.fr. France will put forward a second plan on
workplace health by the end of this year.

and ever relevant video oldie but goodie :)