Strikes and protests
“Protests and strikes are part of France’s history, it’s in our blood”, a friend said this to me today (except in French). He’s not wrong. This is how the French have gotten things done in the past. The French revolution, well, revolutions actually, the 68 riots and student protests, the 95 three week long strike and countless other strikes, protests, demonstrations and riots.
Of course my friend went on to add that the government and ruling class today are lucky in that the mobs won’t send them to the guillotine and put their heads on sticks.
Paris during these general strikes and protests isn’t so bad if you don’t have to go to work. Unfortunately today I didn’t have a choice. The metro just didn’t show up this morning so I started walking to work thinking I’d find a cab. That didn’t happen, and I now know that walking to work only takes about one hour and fifteen minutes. (And probably about the same back, except I made a little detour) I didn’t actually go to the protest. I never do. Not because I don’t think there are things worth protesting about, because there certainly are, but because I tend to be a little bit claustrophobic. Not to the point that I can’t be in crowds, or on the metro (unless it’s rush hour and people are pushing on you to get on the train), but when there are huge crowds and they push me around the way I once had happen at a demonstration, I just can’t deal with it. I don’t want to be anywhere near it in fact. This is also why I now only go to concerts if there is seating, or outdoors and not crowded. God, I’m old!
The reason they’ve been protesting and striking today, and last week, is this new law proposal which will loosen certain restrictions when it comes to firing young workers. I can see this from both sides. On a personal level, I don’t like to think we are moving towards a more americanized model when it comes to job security, or insecurity as the case may be. But I can also understand why the government is proposing this.
France is a country in crisis in many ways. The economy is not as healthy as it should be. Unemployment rates are high and foreign investments are down. The government hopes that this new measure will make it easier for companies to hire people, thus reducing the unemployment rate and of course it would also give young people some much needed work experience. Part of me wants to say that this could be a great thing if it has the desired effect. Because if you do your job well, they’re not going to fire you. They’ll keep you on, and you’ll have more time to prove your worth than with a normal trial period. On the other hand I know there are a lot of companies that would probably abuse such a system. It’s a difficult issue, and I’m not going to pretend I have answers. Hopefully an agreement will be reached soon.
All I do know is that I wish the protesters would realise that trashing stores, burning cars, vandalising the library at the Sorbonne is never the answer. And I also hope the metro drivers will be back at work tomorrow because my feet are a little tired from all that walking in heels today.
Of course my friend went on to add that the government and ruling class today are lucky in that the mobs won’t send them to the guillotine and put their heads on sticks.
Paris during these general strikes and protests isn’t so bad if you don’t have to go to work. Unfortunately today I didn’t have a choice. The metro just didn’t show up this morning so I started walking to work thinking I’d find a cab. That didn’t happen, and I now know that walking to work only takes about one hour and fifteen minutes. (And probably about the same back, except I made a little detour) I didn’t actually go to the protest. I never do. Not because I don’t think there are things worth protesting about, because there certainly are, but because I tend to be a little bit claustrophobic. Not to the point that I can’t be in crowds, or on the metro (unless it’s rush hour and people are pushing on you to get on the train), but when there are huge crowds and they push me around the way I once had happen at a demonstration, I just can’t deal with it. I don’t want to be anywhere near it in fact. This is also why I now only go to concerts if there is seating, or outdoors and not crowded. God, I’m old!
The reason they’ve been protesting and striking today, and last week, is this new law proposal which will loosen certain restrictions when it comes to firing young workers. I can see this from both sides. On a personal level, I don’t like to think we are moving towards a more americanized model when it comes to job security, or insecurity as the case may be. But I can also understand why the government is proposing this.
France is a country in crisis in many ways. The economy is not as healthy as it should be. Unemployment rates are high and foreign investments are down. The government hopes that this new measure will make it easier for companies to hire people, thus reducing the unemployment rate and of course it would also give young people some much needed work experience. Part of me wants to say that this could be a great thing if it has the desired effect. Because if you do your job well, they’re not going to fire you. They’ll keep you on, and you’ll have more time to prove your worth than with a normal trial period. On the other hand I know there are a lot of companies that would probably abuse such a system. It’s a difficult issue, and I’m not going to pretend I have answers. Hopefully an agreement will be reached soon.
All I do know is that I wish the protesters would realise that trashing stores, burning cars, vandalising the library at the Sorbonne is never the answer. And I also hope the metro drivers will be back at work tomorrow because my feet are a little tired from all that walking in heels today.
posted by Annette at 2:29 AM
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