WHAT THE FRENCH?! --- LES GREVES
Welcome back for a new lesson in French-ness!
This week in WHAT THE FRENCH?! let me tell you about strikes.
"Why do they exist, do they work, WHY AM I ALWAYS THE VICTIM OF A STRIKE WHENEVER I VISIT FRANCE?!", you wonder. I understand your frustration, I do: Last year I missed my Eurostar to London because of a surprise strike from metro workers. But I also understand these people. Let me explain:
Chances are that, as you're reading this, there is someone, somewhere in France, who is on strike.
Here's something I learned while researching for this, though: in Europe, it is Spain that holds the record for most non-worked days due to strikes! Hah! Take THAT, clichés!
Between 1999 and 2007, on average per year, Spain had 133 non-worked days. France only had 103.
The French didn't invent the concept of strikes. The Egyptians did: it's in the freaking Bible, guys. 2100 BC!
But the right to strike is in our Constitution (since 1864) and we overuse it like Americans use and abuse the First Amendment. It's our thing.
Some interesting facts:
- The French Constitution states that you cannot be fired for going on strike, and your employer is forbidden to hire temps to "break" the strike.
- There's a legal obligatory warning: you need to warn the people who will be affected by the strike 5 days in advance. That's in the law, but it's bullshit because parents at school only know we're going to be on strike two days in advance. Also, hey, surprise strikes are a thing.
- You can't decide to be on strike on your own: there has to be at least two people involved for your inactivity to be considered a strike.
- Some workers cannot go on strike: anyone who works for national security, like policemen, soldiers, prison guards, and even lawyers if their action hinders the process of justice.
Photos from the first nation-wide strike in 1906 asking for an 8-hour day at work. This strike failed, two people were killed and more than a hundred were wounded. Besides, 15,000 railway workers were fired for going on strike. So, a rocky start at best.
The main reason is this: although only 7% of French workers are actually unionised, France has a heavy socialist background. When I learned about French history in school it was always "Uprisings! People in the street! Demonstrations! Revolutions!" This country was basically built on angry people showing just how angry they were. We simply do not know how to sit down and calmly talk things over, so as soon as we're unhappy, we go on strike.
Nowadays, the abundance of strikes in France is mostly attributable to The Big Bad Recession and the several reforms the government has been trying to enforce over the past few years. The French dislike change on the best of days so, when you tell them they have no choice in the matter, they get very angry. Of course, the government doesn't give a shit. And since we're in a fucking recession and we need money to live, people always go back to work soon enough.
Because stopping work and shouting is literally how we air our grievances and try to remedy our problems, it's often seen as a betrayal on your part if you choose not to strike alongside your coworkers. This can lead to being shunned at work and sometimes even to being harrassed. If you ever need to make a choice between a day's salary and being driven to depression by peer pressure, you'll most likely choose to give up a day's salary.
With this said, allow me to clue you in on a sad truth: some French people are just lazy. When you're on strike, you're not at work and it's all the motivation some people need. And yes, you're not getting paid and it sucks, but you can go do whatever pleases you: shopping, sleeping in, playing with your dog, reading a book... You don't have to put up with your stupid colleagues or your jerk of a boss, and that's worth every euro you lose.
Now let me tell you about something I remember thanks to my being an old person: the great strikes of 1995.
Notice the plural here. That's because both private companies AND government-owned companies went on strike to protest a reform regarding retirement laws and the Social Security system. People were pretty pissed off and the strike lasted almost a month, from November 24th to December 15th.
Several demonstrations were organised throughout that time. One of them rallied two million people. TWO. MILLION. PEOPLE in the streets.
Public transportation was on strike, of course. Can you imagine an entire month of no busses or subways? How do you get around?! You can't. It was a month of massive traffic jams, especially in Paris, which was saturated.
But better going through some of the 142 miles of traffic jams all around Paris than going through THAT every day.
I remember this happening. I was 11 at the time and it stuck with me because it meant my mother was allowed to leave work early (she used to work in Paris) so it was like "more Mum time, YAY!" In the morning, she would carpool with several other people, and she recalls people waiting at bus stops for random cars to stop by and drivers being like "I'm going to ..., who wants in?" In the end, the Army was called in (for real) and would show up in trucks that would drive along metro lines and take people to work -for those who weren't on strike, of course.
On December 15th, the government relented and gave up on the modifications on retirement laws. The ones regarding our Social Security system went through, though. The movement died out on its own after that.
The greatest strike of them all, Mai 68, will get its own installment. It was THAT huge and awesome. It makes 1995 look like a Sunday playdate in a rural park. You'll see.
This week in WHAT THE FRENCH?! let me tell you about strikes.
"Why do they exist, do they work, WHY AM I ALWAYS THE VICTIM OF A STRIKE WHENEVER I VISIT FRANCE?!", you wonder. I understand your frustration, I do: Last year I missed my Eurostar to London because of a surprise strike from metro workers. But I also understand these people. Let me explain:
Chances are that, as you're reading this, there is someone, somewhere in France, who is on strike.
Here's something I learned while researching for this, though: in Europe, it is Spain that holds the record for most non-worked days due to strikes! Hah! Take THAT, clichés!
Between 1999 and 2007, on average per year, Spain had 133 non-worked days. France only had 103.
The French didn't invent the concept of strikes. The Egyptians did: it's in the freaking Bible, guys. 2100 BC!
But the right to strike is in our Constitution (since 1864) and we overuse it like Americans use and abuse the First Amendment. It's our thing.
Some interesting facts:
- The French Constitution states that you cannot be fired for going on strike, and your employer is forbidden to hire temps to "break" the strike.
- There's a legal obligatory warning: you need to warn the people who will be affected by the strike 5 days in advance. That's in the law, but it's bullshit because parents at school only know we're going to be on strike two days in advance. Also, hey, surprise strikes are a thing.
- You can't decide to be on strike on your own: there has to be at least two people involved for your inactivity to be considered a strike.
- Some workers cannot go on strike: anyone who works for national security, like policemen, soldiers, prison guards, and even lawyers if their action hinders the process of justice.
Photos from the first nation-wide strike in 1906 asking for an 8-hour day at work. This strike failed, two people were killed and more than a hundred were wounded. Besides, 15,000 railway workers were fired for going on strike. So, a rocky start at best.
The main reason is this: although only 7% of French workers are actually unionised, France has a heavy socialist background. When I learned about French history in school it was always "Uprisings! People in the street! Demonstrations! Revolutions!" This country was basically built on angry people showing just how angry they were. We simply do not know how to sit down and calmly talk things over, so as soon as we're unhappy, we go on strike.
Nowadays, the abundance of strikes in France is mostly attributable to The Big Bad Recession and the several reforms the government has been trying to enforce over the past few years. The French dislike change on the best of days so, when you tell them they have no choice in the matter, they get very angry. Of course, the government doesn't give a shit. And since we're in a fucking recession and we need money to live, people always go back to work soon enough.
Because stopping work and shouting is literally how we air our grievances and try to remedy our problems, it's often seen as a betrayal on your part if you choose not to strike alongside your coworkers. This can lead to being shunned at work and sometimes even to being harrassed. If you ever need to make a choice between a day's salary and being driven to depression by peer pressure, you'll most likely choose to give up a day's salary.
With this said, allow me to clue you in on a sad truth: some French people are just lazy. When you're on strike, you're not at work and it's all the motivation some people need. And yes, you're not getting paid and it sucks, but you can go do whatever pleases you: shopping, sleeping in, playing with your dog, reading a book... You don't have to put up with your stupid colleagues or your jerk of a boss, and that's worth every euro you lose.
Now let me tell you about something I remember thanks to my being an old person: the great strikes of 1995.
Notice the plural here. That's because both private companies AND government-owned companies went on strike to protest a reform regarding retirement laws and the Social Security system. People were pretty pissed off and the strike lasted almost a month, from November 24th to December 15th.
Several demonstrations were organised throughout that time. One of them rallied two million people. TWO. MILLION. PEOPLE in the streets.
Public transportation was on strike, of course. Can you imagine an entire month of no busses or subways? How do you get around?! You can't. It was a month of massive traffic jams, especially in Paris, which was saturated.
But better going through some of the 142 miles of traffic jams all around Paris than going through THAT every day.
I remember this happening. I was 11 at the time and it stuck with me because it meant my mother was allowed to leave work early (she used to work in Paris) so it was like "more Mum time, YAY!" In the morning, she would carpool with several other people, and she recalls people waiting at bus stops for random cars to stop by and drivers being like "I'm going to ..., who wants in?" In the end, the Army was called in (for real) and would show up in trucks that would drive along metro lines and take people to work -for those who weren't on strike, of course.
On December 15th, the government relented and gave up on the modifications on retirement laws. The ones regarding our Social Security system went through, though. The movement died out on its own after that.
The greatest strike of them all, Mai 68, will get its own installment. It was THAT huge and awesome. It makes 1995 look like a Sunday playdate in a rural park. You'll see.