Day: 6 December 2016

Workers picked Tuesday December 6, as a day for action, demanding improvements in three key areas: higher wages, improved conditions and morale in the workplace and maintaining quality social security and protection heading into retirement (CCSS and SPME).

The Union des syndicats de Monaco (USM) told Monaco Life that more than 1500 demonstrators were expected at three designated locations Tuesday afternoon: at the entrance of CHPG’s maternity ward at 1:30 pm, at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille at 1:45 pm, and in front of St Charles Church in Monte Carlo at 2 pm (pictures above show hospitality workers, chefs and bank employees marching near St Charles yesterday).

The last strike in the Principality, and the first “interprofessional” collective strike since 2012, was on June 16, 2016, when the USM mobilised Monaco’s trade unions with a call to action from employees and retirees.

“Those taking to the streets are not anti-Monaco nor or anti-constitutional,” USM’s General Secretary, Christophe Glasser, told Monaco Life in June. “Quite the contrary. It’s a question of dignity and social justice.”

According to Glasser, who has worked at USM for seven years, USM is a foundation that represents 39 professional unions in the Principality, from transport and telecoms to hotels and restaurants to bank managers and water and electricity. Monaco’s constitution provides the right to strike and workers do not have to give advance notice to their employers, but, as in France, they do not get paid when they are on strike.

After months of detailed negotiation, an agreement was reached on Tuesday, December 6, whereby Monaco’s port authority will operate the marina at Ventimiglia.

The Cozzi Parodi Group, chaired by Mrs Béatrice Parodi, has concluded the agreement with the Principality of Monaco, through which the Monegasque International Port Corporation (SMIP), a subsidiary of the Monaco Port Authority, will acquire the shares of the company Cala del Forte, holder of the concession of the Marina of Ventimiglia.

Before this agreement, the ambitious project had been on hold for several years due to a lack of funding.

The municipality of Ventimiglia and the Ligurian Region made this agreement possible through the approval of a new version of the original project that will allow the use of the harbour for larger pleasure boats better adapted to the current yachting market.

The new owners of Cala Del Forte intend to resume work as soon as possible, if possible as early as January 2017. The maritime work is expected to be completed by the summer of 2018, allowing for harbour operations to start, and shore facilities are expected to be completed by 2019.

Eventually, the port complex will include 171 berths for vessels from 6 metres to 60 metres, approximately 400 parking spaces, a shipyard and 3,800 square metres of commercial premises.

A number of major works will be carried out in the vicinity of the port, to include rehabilitation of the sewerage network, resurfacing of the roadway, landscaping, and a vertical lift link connecting the port with Old Ventimiglia.

The Mayor of Ventimiglia, Mr Enrico Ioculano, and the new President of Cala Del Forte, Mr Aleco Keusseoglou, will give a first press conference in Italy next week, during which further information will be provided on the project. This meeting will take place on December 12 at 2 pm at the Annunciata Fort in Old Ventimiglia.

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As has been the case every year for the last five years, on the occasion of the International Day of Disabled Persons, the Department of Health and Social Affairs organised the fifth Monaco Disability Encounter at the Auditorium of the Lycée Technique et Hotelier in Monaco on Monday, December 5.

The Prince’s Government wished to associate the Principality, for the fifth time, with the commemoration of this day proclaimed by the United Nation. The theme chosen this year was “Mobility and leisure: let’s live together”.

Minister Stéphane Valeri recalled the progress already made, and provided an update on the main provisions of the law on accessibility to buildings as approved on December 1 by the National Council and bearing in mind Monaco’s specific topographical challenges.

Representatives of the Directorate of Urban Development, the Monaco Bus Company, Mobibus, the City Council of Monaco and the Direction of Stade Louis II, spoke on the topic of implementation, particularly on access to recreation for all, with particular emphasis on the public swimming pools and the Larvotto beach (Handiplage/Audioplage).

The day ended with a public debate, including leaders of concerned associations, as well as people with disabilities, who were able to get answers to their questions and make suggestions to decision makers and professionals present.

READ ALSO: Minster of Health and Social Affairs, Stéphane Valeri: the real deal

Suspended prison sentences and fines have been called for by prosecutors in the Odeon Tower case. A total of eleven defendants are on trial in Marseille for corruption, tax fraud and money-laundering.

The developers, Claudio and Paolo Marzocco, face two years suspended and a fine of €100,000 each if found guilty of bribing Gerard Spinelli, mayor of Beausoleil, the French commune that borders the building. Prosecutors have called for three years suspended sentence for the mayor, plus a fine of €65,000 and three years of ineligibility for public office.

The trial is expected to finish by the end of this week. Odeon Tower was a hole in the ground at the time of the alleged offences, more than seven years ago. Now the finished building, the tallest in Monaco, stands 170 metres tall and has 49 floors. In addition to private luxury apartments and offices, the Tower is also home to several hundred Monegasques.