The strike affects me too.

As some of you know there is a rather large grève  going on in France right now.  Public transportation has been hit completely as the transport workers are trying to negotiate with our president, Sarkozy, not to take away their early retirement benefits. If that isn't enough, EDF et GDF (Electricity and Gas) de France have also gone on strike to support the transportation grievances.   And to top it off, the students are striking as well. In support for the transit workers and also to voice their opposition to privatizing their schools.

Since "my office" happens to be in the comfort of my home. The transportation strike hasn't really affected me much. Unlike the 2006 CPE strikes by the students that had me on the train to work for up to 4 hours a day and I would pass bombed out cars and see kids looting in the streets on my way to work. Today, I use heavily the line 14, the only completely automated line, in Paris and the buses. I usually take the 14 into the center and walk to wherever I need to go with Max in tow.

If EDF and GDF decide to start doing selective blackouts like they have threatened, maybe they will shut down power in my neighborhood. I'd light a candle and be okay, I think. It would get cold in our apt but we'd have a lot of cuddling going on and we have plenty of conserve (confit de canard, La Reveuse!) that we could crack into.

I am no longer a student. So, getting to class is not my main priority these days.  I have sentimental memories of the student strikes in 1995 and 1998 as I was a student in France during both of those periods. I remember my Fac being closed for two weeks straight in 1998. The doors barred and students blocking the way in. Everyday, my foreign friends and I would trek to school to have the French students tell us to go home because they were not going to let us in. I was worried about failing my semester that year but some how we made it through. I remember talking with my French classmates and being touched at how emotional they were about the student reforms. And thinking I've never even had to think about anything like this in my life. It really opened my eyes.

But as I type this I am home alone. My husband is staying at his mother's apartment which happens to be three RER stops from where he works on the opposite side of Paris.  To drive from our house to his office would take HOURS. Everyone is driving everywhere as there are NO TRAINS anywhere.  You can't imagine the traffic jams all over Paris.  This afternoon, I was in Chatelet-les-Halles, one of the biggest transport hubs in Paris, and it was eerie to be walking the halls ALONE. No one was there.  I know how stressful my husband job is and supporting us has brought on added stress, though he'd never admit it. To avoid hours of wasted time sardined on the trains,  I told him to go. Do what needs to be done and I will be alright.

So, here I am again eating dinner alone. Taking care of Maximilien alone and whispering my good nights to my husband on the telephone before heading to bed. The strike has come into my home, too. Some say this strike maybe as big as the strikes in 1995 which means it could last up to a month.  I find it a pity that the French have to resolve themselves to striking to be heard. Before I moved to France I had never seen so much of this. I hope that Sarko is willing to entertain serious negotiations with the workers so that life can go back to normal as soon as possible. But most importantly, I want my husband to be able to get home so he can be with us again.

Comments

[gleek]

wow, how crazy! of course, we're not hearing about this first-hand in the states so i'm glad to read this tale from you. i hope julien makes it home soon! i hate it when my hubby travels and i have to go days without seeing him. i totally understand how you feel.

(p.s. when i saw the title of your post before i clicked through, i thought, "yeah, the writers guild strike is effecting all us mamas who want to watch some good TV!" hahahah, wow, i need to get more on top of world events!!)

[Steph]

Yeah, I thought you were talking about the WGA strike as well! It's a big deal here in Los Angeles, as your sister has probably told you.
Here's hoping that the writers in LA and the stagehands in New York and the transportation employees in Paris get what they want soon, so we can all go back to watching (and making) American TV, seeing Broadway shows, and riding Parisian trains.

[marie]

" I find it a pity that the French have to resolve themselves to striking to be heard": c'est plutôt qu'ils font grève AVANT de négocier...

[GIna]

We're blocked out of our fac here in Lyon too, but the public transportation isn't on strike (yet). For our program, it's quite hard because we only have classes until January before we start our internships, so every class we miss becomes an issue. We may be unblocked on Tuesday, but no one really knows. Bah. Yesterday, as I was waiting for hours at the prefecture (stupid carte de sejour), the EDF/GDF employees (their building is next door) were striking, but doing so with a rather large sound system and a bizarrre variety of music. And that is how Barry White became the sound of the greve here for me...

[Aimee]

When are the negotiations supposed to happen? Seems backwards to me to strike first and then ask to negotiate. Ah... the French. :)

[joy]

I'm so glad that Philippe and I live in the centre piéton of Montpellier, and both within walking/biking distance of where we work... Everything I need is just steps away from my door. I'm sorry you don't have your husband with you right now. Paris sounds like a real bordel en ce moment...

[Jennifer]

Ah... the French. Strike first, negociate later.

I am hit hard by the strikes. I live out by Disneyland and I work at La Défense. No RER A means that Métro line 1 (the only métro that goes to La Défense) is trying to cram in millions of workers trying to get to the business district of Paris.

Today it took me 3 hours and 15 minutes to get to work. On the sixth day of the strike.

It's hell, however, that being said, I do not want Sarko to be lenient. It seems to be, that giving the strikers what they want is akin to coddling to a tantrum-given toddler.... The people voted him (Sarko) in and now one cannot find one person who admits that they voted for him.

Why was he voted in? Because the French want change but don't want to admit it to each other because it means adjusting and the French are not very good at adjusting (IMHO). If you say you voted for Sarko, you might as well be saying that you're responsable for the strikes.

To me, it seems perfectly reasonable that everyone pays into the French government the same way and everyone works the same amount of time. The only exception that I could see would be jobs that are clearly dangerous for a person's health, but in that case, I think that it's reasonable that they would be retrained to do something different.

France needs to change in many many ways and this is just the beginning. Buckle down my pretties, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

I have a cousin that is an economist. She said that before Mitterand took office in the 80s, France national debt was -15% of Holland's. Now it's about +75%.

Things need to change. One day I want to be able to open my own business in France. Today it doesn't seem possible. Hopefully, one day that's a dream that I'll be able to pull off and not be drowned in government regulations should I succeed.