This is unbelievable. Today I was not able to go to school thanks to the striking employees of France’s National Railway System. And with the threat of several protests going on in the city I stayed home thinking it was more prudent to monitor the news on the TV than to witness them in person. I’m not sure how much coverage this story is being given overseas but basically what is going on is that the different unions that represent the train drivers in all of France, as well as the metro and bus drivers in Paris, have decided to strike as of last night. This time around they are striking against the president’s (Nicolas Sarkozy) plan to reform their retirement/pension plan. A couple of years back, France raised the number of years an employee has to contribute to their pension plan in order to obtain full pension benefits for the private sector from 37.5 years to 40. This reform was also applied to some employees of the public sector; however, it did not affect the union employees of the transportation sector. Now his plan is to apply the same reform to these union employees thus making the retirement age for France’s entire workforce the same. This is one of the main reasons for the strike. But they are not the only ones who are striking. The utilities employees, such as electricity and gas, have decided to join them. And as the saying - “The more the merrier” - goes, students from universities all over France have also joined in the strikes/protests due to the government’s plan to make the universities autonomous. The students had called today not only for protests, but also for blocking the entrance to the main train stations…something that fortunately did not end up taking place. Knowing how revolutionary the French can sometimes be (the French Revolution and the riots 2 years ago are just some of the things that come to my mind) I’m pretty sure you understand why I decided it was better to stay home and keep an eye on how things would develop throughout the day.
So what is the result of all of this? Today, only 20% of the metro and buses in Paris operated. Some of the suburban trains did not operate at all and some did, but only at about 10% of their normal capacity. There is a total chaos in Paris. People are either walking to school/work or going in bikes or scooters. The people who live in the suburbs had to drive their cars into the city causing horrendous traffic jams: worse than the ones formed when it rains in Miami or when there is an accident on the Turnpike. And then there are others who are simply staying with friends who live near the city center or who just have decided to stay at a hotel to be closer to their jobs. Thank God the effects of the electricity and gas employees strikes have not manifested themselves yet; but just in case I have a candle and some matches right on my night table…ja ja ja!!!! And as if this was not enough, as I’m writing this post I hear on the news that the postal workers, teachers and some judges are planning to join in the strikes.
Even though negotiations have begun between all of the parties involved, the government is standing very firm on their plans to continue with the reform and they are saying they won’t back down. And guess what??? The unions are saying the same: they are not backing down!!! The last time the government tried to make some sort of reform to the pension plan for these employees was back in 1,995. Back then the strike went on for 3 and half weeks until the government had to finally back down due to the citizen’s pressure to stop the unbearable and chaotic situation. This time around it seems to be different. The citizens in general are being more supportive of the government than of the union workers. On a poll conducted today, 84% of the people believe the government won’t back down and 71% of the people don’t want the government to back down. So we’ll see how everything develops.
So what is the result of all of this? Today, only 20% of the metro and buses in Paris operated. Some of the suburban trains did not operate at all and some did, but only at about 10% of their normal capacity. There is a total chaos in Paris. People are either walking to school/work or going in bikes or scooters. The people who live in the suburbs had to drive their cars into the city causing horrendous traffic jams: worse than the ones formed when it rains in Miami or when there is an accident on the Turnpike. And then there are others who are simply staying with friends who live near the city center or who just have decided to stay at a hotel to be closer to their jobs. Thank God the effects of the electricity and gas employees strikes have not manifested themselves yet; but just in case I have a candle and some matches right on my night table…ja ja ja!!!! And as if this was not enough, as I’m writing this post I hear on the news that the postal workers, teachers and some judges are planning to join in the strikes.
Even though negotiations have begun between all of the parties involved, the government is standing very firm on their plans to continue with the reform and they are saying they won’t back down. And guess what??? The unions are saying the same: they are not backing down!!! The last time the government tried to make some sort of reform to the pension plan for these employees was back in 1,995. Back then the strike went on for 3 and half weeks until the government had to finally back down due to the citizen’s pressure to stop the unbearable and chaotic situation. This time around it seems to be different. The citizens in general are being more supportive of the government than of the union workers. On a poll conducted today, 84% of the people believe the government won’t back down and 71% of the people don’t want the government to back down. So we’ll see how everything develops.
As for me…tomorrow I’ll wake up very early to try to catch one of the 20% subways/buses which would get me closer to the school (maybe it is wishful thinking in my part, or me just being too optimistic but I guess it is worth giving it a try). If not I will have no other choice but to put on some very comfortable shoes, make sure my i-pod is charged and walk the almost 5 miles between where I’m staying and the school. So once again I have to ask if someone could please remind me that it is the 21st century and I’m living in a developed country in the first world; one that is a members of the G8: the group of the 8 major industrialized countries in the world. I swear that sometimes I feel I never left the early 80’s of my Colombian-third-world-country when the strikes in Itagui (a municipality right next to Medellin) would prevent us from getting to school and we would avoid certain areas of the city because of the students and teachers strikes at “La Universidad Nacional”.
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