Public employee unions claim all sorts of benefits for their members, but in France they take matters a bit further. The UK Daily Mirror reports:

FRANCE'S notoriously tough riot police are threatening to go on strike - over a ban on drinking alcohol on duty.

The infamous CRS squads have always been allowed beer or wine during crowd-control operations but the government wants it stopped.

The ban follows pictures appearing last October of riot officers drinking while policing a demo in Paris. (snip)

A spokesman for the SGP police union, which is planning industrial action, said: "We have received a new memorandum outlawing alcohol and this is unacceptable. CRS officers should be allowed to drink in moderation."

Please, nobody tell AFSCME or the NEA.