There was a transportation strike today, which apparently happens a lot. A strike here is not a real strike, though, it seems. They announce it several days in advance and only a few workers strike. Every 2 or 3 or 4 trains still run on each line, and line 1 by my house remained fully functioning. It was a bit more crowded today than usual, but not even a lot, because everyone is avoiding the metro because of the strike. Only one of my trains today was really problematic. No wonder French strikes are such a joke. A "strike" that only makes public transportation slightly less convenient for one day can't be all that effective.And it's all because they are trying to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. You work 35 hour work weeks and get at least 5 weeks of mandatory vacation time a year. 2 more years won't kill you.
Apparently there is no such thing as collective bargaining in France. Management makes decisions without much input from the workers and then the workers respond with strikes when they don't like it. This is ridiculous...then again, at least they aren't throwing coups and overthrowing the government every time they don't get their way. Could be worse I guess.
No comments:
Post a Comment