In Germany recently, there was a pleasing moment of defiance in the face of the determination of the banning classes to ban smoking. Boss fires staff for not smoking is what the headline says, and this is – surprise surprise – inaccurate, assuming that the report under the headline is accurate. The boss fired the non-smokers because they were making a damn nuisance of themselves by demanding that the smokers stop smoking, and he has now announced that he will not hire any more non-smokers, in case they behave similarly. Nobody got fired merely for not smoking. Not that there would be anything wrong with that.
But this is only a very small and temporary victory for the right of employers to hire and fire at will, restrained only by whatever contracts may have been made that require otherwise.
Germany introduced non-smoking rules in pubs and restaurants on January 1, but Germans working in small offices are still allowed to smoke.
It is the little word “still” that tells the true story here. And big offices have already been sorted out. This tiresome little anomaly will soon be corrected, and Germany will proceed methodically towards making smoking illegal everywhere. Adolf Hitler (not even he was able to give legal force to his detestation of smoking) is smirking in his grave, doing no turning whatsoever.
The whole thing was actually a hoax, but I did cheer when I read it 🙂
Oh dear. Who was hoaxing and how?
Although, reading through my post again, most of what I said about this report still makes good sense. The headline was indeed contradicted by what followed. And I did not entirely take for granted that the report itself was accurate, although I certainly implied that the approximate story was for real. And they surely are determined to ban smoking altogether, in Germany as everywhere in EUrope.
So, assuming that the claim that it was a hoax is true, not as much egg on face as there might have been. Nevertheless, apologies.
Indeed, so no need to feel particularly egg covered, Brian. Story on hoax here
So it isn’t literally true, but true in spirit. Yes I can see you letting Gordo get away with that argument…
No Ian, it was a rather masterful propaganda stunt by civil rights activists in Germany.
Quite so.
And it is good to know that there are some “civil rights activists” in Germany who understand that the basis of civil freedom is private property.
Without private property it is not possible to know what is a “civil” (i.e. nonaggressive) act and what is not.
For example, eating some bread may or may not be aggression – it depends on who owns the bread and what they have said about who can eat it.
Or playing music in a room (whose room is it?).
And so on.
Hoax or not, in th German original the story wasn’t that he fired them for demanding that everybody else stop smoking, but because they asked to have a smokefree room to work in. In that version, he called people who demand smoke free offices troublemakers he doesn’t want to have around.
Frankly, that didn’t seem all that unlikely to me. Some of our German smokers are tobacco zealots who’ll rail against non-smokers, even if they make no attempt to stop anybody from smoking. 🙂
It should be noted that German bars owners have a way to get around the smoking ban: If they call their bar a club and demand a cover fee from anybody who enters, their prpatrons can smoke to their hearts’ and lungs’ desire. Another way is to put up a sign at the entrance door: “Geschlossene Gesellschaft” (“Private Meeting”).