On Strike

There was a strike today in Paris by the transit workers to protest that they cannot retire at 60 anymore but at 62. This is not a new decision by the government - but the workers apparently wanted to remind us that they are still not happy about this. I learned about the strike yesterday on one of the blogs I follow. Now when such a strike occurs, it is not often that it is a full strike - meaning that the metro, the RER, the regional trains all continue to provide service but at less than 100% schedule. So for example, 6 out of 10 metros are coming, and 50% of the regional trains.

Striking is such a "foreign" phenomenon to Americans. For workers to go on strike, there have already been months of talks, negotiations and even possibly court rulings. Here, a decision is made, warning is provided and the next day a strike. But usually, strike light. Another example - Annabel (who is a friend's daughter) has school until the end of next week, but today, the teacher's are on strike. Why? Who knows? Does this mean that parents are scrambling to find day care? Nope. The schools are still open and students still go to school, but may find themselves in a classroom with upper or lower classmen but still with their friends. Tres Bizarre I think.

So last night, I went to Nathalie's in the suburbs so we could go together to a birthday party for a mutual friend. Transport last night was uninterrupted even though the strike began last evening. Nathalie and I left this morning at 8 to catch a train back to the city - she to give a presentation and me for my 9:00 am class. The first train to arrive was at 8:20 - normally the trains run every 8 or 9 minutes or so. The train was so crowded that a man actually got off on the verge of passing out. Which ultimately meant that there was NO possible way that Jai could get on that train and survive. So Jai and I waited patiently for an entire hour before we could get on a train where it wasn't so crowded that we both be squished. For sure a small inconvenience - but I did miss my class :-( and learned a lesson - try and stay close to home when there's a strike.