Female Air France flight attendants have said they will refuse to fly to Iran after being ordered to wear headscarves when they leave the plane in Tehran.
Women in Iran have been required to cover their heads since the 1979 revolution. However, in France, religious headscarves are banned in state schools and offices and it is illegal to wear the full-face veil in public.
Union leaders have objected to what they see as a compulsory dress code that undermines "individual freedoms", but Air France argues that French law allows "the restriction of individual liberties" if it is "justified by the nature of the task to be accomplished", reports the Daily Telegraph.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Francoise Redolfi, of the UNSA union, told RFI Radio the decision was "not professional" and an "insult" to the staff's dignity.
"They are forcing us to wear an ostentatious religious symbol. We have to let the girls choose what they want to wear. Those that don't want to must be able to say they don't want to work on those flights," she said.
Unions want the Tehran flights, which will resume later this month, to be made voluntary "without penalties for female staff, deductions from wages or consequences for their careers", says The Independent.
In response, the airline said all air crew were "obliged like other foreign visitors to respect the laws of the countries to which they travelled". It added that the rule was not a new one, since it had applied before flights to Tehran were stopped and that similar regulations also applied on flights to Saudi Arabia.
The unions have written to France's minister for women's rights and families, Laurence Rossignol, who late last month was embroiled in another religious clothing row over retailers selling the likes of the burkini. Muslim women who chose to wear headscarves were like "negroes who supported slavery", she said.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocratFeature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlockFeature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
