Drinking on the job

I’m losing a day in the air, so I thought this could hold you over.

Earlier this week, The LA Times reported that French riot police were protesting a ban on drinking on the job.

French riot police. AP photo by Laurent Cipriani. Appeared in The Guardian. Their dark blue armored uniform has led to the nickname RoboCops.

Some highlights from the article:

*The Interior Ministry ordered the crackdown last week after several officers with the CRS, whose motto is “Serve,” were pictured swigging from beer bottles while deployed last fall at a student demonstration.

*Article R4228-20 of the French Labor Code, which bars the consumption of hard alcohol in the workplace, does allow public and private employees to enjoy about an 8-ounce glass of wine, a small beer or a glass of apple or pear cider while on duty. The rule was reiterated in an official directive to public workers in 1989.

*Even packed lunches issued to CRS officers deployed in their trademark navy blue vans and buses come with a small bottle of beer or wine.

*Police union boss Mangione told Le Parisien: “Decisions such as this should be based on studies of the real negative effects. There are none. This ban should be withdrawn.”  He added, “We are being turned into priests, but without the communion wine.”