paralysis in paris

By now (see article below "grieving for la grève), you should have known that besides eating cheese and inventing new grammar rules to confuse les anglais, the French's favourite pastime is striking.

In fact, the strikes are becoming more and more frequent lately such that it is possible to schedule one into your travel itinerary if you are a tourist to France. That is, if your flight is not canceled because the clean-up crew is striking because their equipment are not high tech enough.

The Great Transport Strike (GTS, not GST, which ironically IS something to strike about) officially began at 2000 local time yesterday in France. Buses, trains, metro lines, taxis, and just about any conceivable form of public transport either grinded to a standstill or just maintained a minimum level of service in Paris, which meant that for the Parisians, it was time to indulge in favourite pastime #1 and #2, since almost nobody could head to work anyway.

For the persevering lot, the vehicle of choice was the range of free Velib' bicycles stationed all around Paris. Problem was that demand soon outran supply, and soon well-groomed men in suits could be seen zipping around in rollerblades or skateboarding. Pretty cool if you ask me. =)

By the way, any journalist coming to work in France should learn the word "manifestation", for he or she will be using it alot, for every strike is accompanied by a manifestation, or demonstration for all you anglais. Speaking of which, even if the transport system was still operating, there would be no room to manoeuvre as the masses have taken to the streets in Paris and Marseille. In France just about anyone and everyone is prepared to demonstrate. Strikes and protests are taken very seriously, each has its own character, and there is definitely no group in society which isn't prepared to take industrial action.

So why do the French strike?

Firstly, the French strongly believe in droit acquis, or what that has already been achieved should be defended. That is why Sarkozy's current proposal of increasing the retirement age has gotten everybody hot underneath the collars. The French see their high social protection system as a heritage and something which is worthy of preserving. Not so if you are the Minister of Finance and you are facing a worsening national debt year after year.

Secondly, the culture here is of participation and involvement. Almost every person on the street has his 20-cent take on any topic in the world. It is not uncommon to have 3 hour dinners because everybody has his share on the potpourri available as dinner conversation. Hence, it is usually difficult to negotiate quietly and peacefully; The problem often spills over onto the streets.

Lastly, the strikes have proven to be largely successful: The last major strike in 1995 brought the government to its knees, and then-PM Chirac had to push back its unpopular policies. But now, Sarkozy insists that he will not back down.

So here we are seeing a massive battle of wills. Will the 500,000 energy and transport workers , determined to keep their generous retirement and pension scheme, prevail, or will it be an equally determined government bent on reform?

We shall see.