A much-despised cashier AFP/LOOS
Barbara, a cashier dismissed for having pocketed 1.30 euros, has become the symbol of employees’ vulnerability in times of crisis.
Barbara’s fate, a supermarket cashier in East Berlin, dismissed for having pocketed 1.30 euros after thirty-one years of good and loyal service, has sparked a wave of outrage across the country. The round face of the fifty-something, whose dismissal was upheld on Tuesday by the Berlin labour court, has become the symbol of employees’ vulnerability in times of crisis. “How can you throw someone out overnight after thirty-one years, on the basis of a suspicion?” her lawyer asked.
The trade union confederation denounces “using a cannon to shoot sparrows”. The court, for its part, considers that a cashier must be “absolutely honest, even for small amounts”. The Kaisers supermarket chain, which employed Barbara, says she used two deposit vouchers forgotten by a customer, worth 1.30 euros. “Revenge,” the unions accuse, as the cashier had fought for a pay rise. Barbara’s story has been turned into a symbol of growing social inequalities in Germany, against a backdrop of soaring unemployment and debate over bankers’ bonuses.
A highly sought-after auctioneer by Claire Chazal
The auction of the Yves Saint Laurent–Pierre Bergé collection brought in more than 373 million euros.
It was a great privilege to attend, the other evening, the auction of the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé collection! The feeling of living through a suspended moment as millions of euros fly, a world spared by the crisis yet ultimately attached to safe values (including that incredible Duchamp that went for nearly 9 million euros after a surreal joust between two buyers) and to the memory of those objects amassed with passion over a lifetime by the master of haute couture. The auctioneer François de Ricqlès, who held the hammer for Christie’s, handled things perfectly… Rising above emotion and pressure (there was plenty!), he kept his calm smile and didn’t have to force his authority to draw out the buyers, whom he never took his eyes off—whether they were in the room or on the phone. An exercise, oh so difficult, carried out with virtuosity and elegance.
