Hey, Ty-
There's a really excellent article in the Guardian this morning about the strikes.

Thought you might want to know.

Thanks, ringo.

I need another geopolitical issue to distract me from our own disasters.

arthur wrote:And by the way,yes, we french have the worst president ever. Comparatively, even Chirac was nice

True.

Strike still going on.
Even though i feel for all those guys stuck in inhumanly crowded tubes, i'm totally happy about it. I may even show at the protest tomorrow. For fun y'know...

In case you don't know, until now, bus, tubes and train drivers were on strike about the government wanting to give them all they ever dreamed about: a new shiny retirement plan (e.g. not the one they took the job for), working more years for less or equal money.
Tomorrow, (i think) , is strike day for all state workers (les fonctionnaires in french). Students are striking too.

wonderful!
Strike days are the best.

Somehow, I find it natural that public workers strike more often than the others. Not only are the work conditions sometimes difficult and salaries don't follow the cost of life that quick (not implying it's better out in the private liberal field), but i feel they're the only category of workers that can really do collective solidary actions.

Public service failure and government corruption, big surprise there. And it's not just in the US!

Hail Rothbard.

It seems to me that the French unions are exercising their teeth considerably more than U.S. unions, generally speaking. It's hard to find any really in-depth, convenient coverage, but according to this article in the BBC, it looks like public transportation unions are actually taking concrete steps towards forcing their perspective (i.e. wrecking railways).

Although my understanding of things is partial to say the least, I envy this level of conviction, and wish U.S. unions would stop screwing around and start taking a harder line themselves. I am a non-union worker (and largely screwed because of it), largely for this reason.

BBC article said:

President Nicolas Sarkozy said culprits would be severely punished.

Beware kids, Daddy's coming up the stairs...
And he don't need no judge.


Still, those said sabotage were not the facts of the unions, whose leaders are currently drinking tea in a cosy salon, but probably just some isolated bullies, or someone trying to tarnish the unionists' image (oh no here is conspiracy theory again).