Workers in Monaco gamble on mass strike
Thursday 16 April 2009
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EmailROULETTE wheels stopped spinning in the Mediterranean principality of Monaco on Thursday as employees went on strike to protest against job cuts.
Monaco is known more as a stomping ground for the rich and famous than as a centre of industrial unrest, but union federation USM explained that the country has lost more than 11 per cent of its jobs over the past decade.
The USM said that bankers, factory, hospital, supermarket, hotel and casino staff and even members of Monaco's Philharmonic Orchestra had walked off the job.
Some of the stoppages lasted just a few hours, while others lasted the entire day.
Thousands of workers joined an afternoon march to the Sainte Devote square, despite rainy weather.
An employee representative from the Societe de Bains de Mer, which owns the Monte Carlo Casino and several landmark hotels and spas in Monaco, said that the strike had been "strongly followed."
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