Faire la grève

Retrait de la réforme des retraites! Remove the reform on retirement! (withdraw is a better translation of "retrait" here, but trying to keep the alliteration!)

"Faire la grève"= to go on strike.

"grèviste"=someone on strike.

"syndicat"=labor union.


It's finally here, the one you've all been waiting for with baited breath...my blog about France's favorite pastime: striking. Even the chiens (dogs) go on strike here: "Grammy, 67 years old, still here to serve us!"

Along with wearing berets, walking around with baguettes, and playing a rousing game of boules, this is a cherished, and time-honored tradition in French culture, starting with, if you will, the original strike of 1789, aka, the French Revolution, and in more recent history, with the blow-out of May 1968. In 1968, students were protesting and revolting all over the world, and considering France's revolutionary history, she certainly couldn't be left out of the action. Students, and eventually workers, joined to advocate change to a society stuck in the past. In fact, they caused so much commotion that the venerable General de Gaulle couldn't even handle it and hid away at Baden-Baden, leaving his prime minister (and eventual successor), Georges Pompidou to attempt to negotiate with the unions.

Anywho, since then, the French have not hesitated to faire la grève whenever a controversial reform is proposed, especially when it has to do with changes to retirement law. I remember back in 2007, while studying in Paris, several strikes broke out throughout the year, preventing some students from getting to class, and putting a bit of a wrench in my weekend trip to the Alps, as strikes often end up involving transportation personnel. While I don't remember the exact issue being protested, it was definitely related to la retraite (retirement). This time around, the strikes are even more ferocious and and the strikers perserverant. Sarko (Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, and I say that with all the disdain I would when mentioning our former president) is trying to reform the retirement laws, changing the retirement age from 60 to 62, and the age when they can receive full benefits from 65 to 67. He believes this will help alleviate some of the government's economic problems, still struggling to recover from the recession.

As teachers' unions are the largest in the nation, this has meant some missing teachers on big strike days--thus less work for moi!



A few grevistes gathered in Place Bellecour,
a popular spot for demonstrations in Lyon

To Americans, brainwashed by the Puritan work-ethic on which our nation was founded (and with which it has since prospered), all of their commotion over this reform falls on deaf ears, and many probably look at the French and roll their eyes while calling them lazy, or as my dad said: "Tell them to stop whining." This, along with their "35-hour" work week (which doesn't apply to everyone, btw), 5 weeks of paid vacation (vs our maybe 2 weeks), and (exaggerated) 2 hour lunches, can paint a false picture of the French for those who know little or nothing about their
culture, and fail to realize that despite the fact that, yes France is also part of the Christanized, Occidental world, it has a history, and therefore mentality, completely different from our own. (Refer to 60 Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong for an excellent read on the subject).

They don't want the retirement age to change because they have in fact worked very hard for 40+ years and don't want to wait another 2 years, especially when this has been the norm since Mitterrand lowered the age from 65 to 60 in 1982. They would like to relax and enjoy life while they still have all their teeth and can remember what day it is. Who wouldn't like to retire earlier? This is especially ennervating for people on the verge of retirement--suddenly they are being told they have to wait a couple of years longer. Young people--college and high school students--are also joining the strike. First of all, if people are working two years longer, then prevents jobs from opening to young graduates. As if the job market weren't already difficult enough. Secondly, many feel the need to join in solidarity with their teachers, mothers, uncles, etc, and hopefully keep the status quo for them and for themselves in the future.

One last important side note, retirement works differently in France and the US, which I found myself struggling to explain to a bunch of confused high schoolers the other day (especially since I wasn't even totally clear on the issue). In the US, though we do have Social Security, most people save their own money for retirement. Thus, they can technically retire whenever they feel they have enough money (they just won't receive Social Security until around 66). In France, retirment is all based on something similar to our Social Security, so unless you are super rich, you have to wait to retire until the government says you can. As is quite common, things that are handled privately in the US--health care (grr), retirement, even museums (with the exception of the Smithsonian museums in DC)--are handled by the government in France (and many other European nations). Across the ocean, we have always been terrified of big government and anything that smells of socialism (dare I even metion the other -ism?). From the "Red Scare" in the 1920s, to Blacklisting in the 1950s, to calling Obama Hitler, this country has consistently proved hostile such ideas. In France, though, the government is expected to handle almost everything--and the French pay good money for it too. And they're about to pay two more years of their life.

Sous les pavés, la plage!

--Under the cobblestones, the beach! (A famous slogan from the 1968 student revolution).