The French Strikes

Much of Europe reminds me of early 1980s Britain, and the French (and recent Italian) strikes are a case in point. There is a lot of jockeyng for position: these strikes are as political as they are specific, and may determine the next five years of France's economic development (already decided in Italy - Prodi keeled over like a friendly labrador at anything serious but stood firm for the right of hairdressers to open on a Monday. Yes: when the going gets tough, the tough get going).

The nature of the French strikes is, prima facie, enough to make you want to support the strikers. A previous administration (Mitterand's, I think) allowed railway workers to retire early, at 50. I have recently been reading Zola's La Bete Humaine, with its descriptions of early railway life and this looks as if it was a late 20th century solution to a strictly 19th century problem. Drivers sit in air conditioned cabs in front of something more akin to a computer than an engine, and as for porters - have you been to a French railway station recently? Why should they need to retire at 50? The pensions scheme is absurd and the government wants to stop it; the workers feel rightly aggrieved that they have done a deal and the government must stick to it (although they have been offered current compensation).

But it's more than that. Sarkozy has identified a large number of reforms which the French economy badly needs. If he loses this he will find it difficult to get the others through (this is what Prodi has learned in Italy) but the unions realise that this is only the thin end of the wedge.

Mrs Thatcher succeeded by picking the right fight at a time of her choosing (the increasingly unpopular miners at a time when she had surreptitiously built up coal stocks). My guess is that Sarkozy has chosen the wrong fight, and that he will back down. In short that he will be the same as Chirac, Mitterand, Giscard and the rest.

We shall see. In the meantime don't go to Paris (Rome is far nicer anyway and you can get a decent meal there)
T