Why what's happening in France isn't 'just another French strike'
| Paris
Fuel shortages, cancelled flights, disrupted trains: France is on strike yet again. The stakes get higher each day. The Euro 2016 soccer championship, which will see hundreds of thousands of visitors traveling to France to root for their national soccer teams, is set to start on June 10. At the same time, Paris is dealing with a constant terrorist threat and now record flooding.
From afar, it鈥檚 easy to see these latest strikes, prompted by a new government attempt at labor reform, as the exclamation of an over-unionized nation stubbornly holding onto protections and privileges that are hardly competitive in the global economy. France鈥檚 unemployment rate hasn鈥檛 significantly budged since President Fran莽ois Hollande took office.
But union membership here is below average for industrialized nations, and the unions are bitterly divided between a reformist wing and a more radical one 鈥� the one leading these strikes.
As for the public, they don鈥檛 line up neatly behind either the government or the unions. Rather, they feel ambivalent about where the country needs to go and how. In fact, these strikes 鈥� the worst in a half-decade and the biggest political challenge yet for the deeply unpopular president 鈥� don鈥檛 necessarily reflect a nation digging in its heels.
鈥淭here are fewer and fewer strikes in France, because the unions don鈥檛 have as much influence as before and the French have better accepted that they have to adapt to the global economy and international competition,鈥� says Pierre Broisard,聽a sociologist at ENS Cachan University聽who specializes in workers and social movements.聽鈥淭hey are more realistic.鈥�
Fight over reform
The strikes started mounting in March, after the Socialist government proposed a labor reform that would loosen France鈥檚 infamously rigid labor law, making it easier to fire 鈥� but also thus hire 鈥� employees. Mr. Hollande's presidency depends on it: He promised he won鈥檛 stand for re-election if he doesn鈥檛 get unemployment figures down. In a sign of how much the government needs it to pass, it was pushed through the National Assembly last month by a rarely used executive power to bypass a vote.
The labor reforms are similar to ones that have been made across Europe 鈥� and have already been watered down since the March protests began. But France鈥檚 most radical union, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), which largely represents the transportation and energy sectors, has聽been particularly irked by changes that would allow companies to negotiate their own contracts with employees outside of the sector agreements in place.
CGT has聽pushed back in a fury of rolling strikes and promised to carry on until the bill is scrapped. It even resorted to blocking oil refineries last week, leading to fuel shortages. While air controllers lifted their threatened strike for the weekend, it鈥檚 still unclear if the Euro '16 soccer tournament, which lasts until July 10, will be impacted. On June 14, the unions have called for a general strike.
Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls have promised they won't be cowed. 鈥淭he proposed law won鈥檛 be withdrawn,鈥� the president said in the Sud Ouest newspaper on Tuesday. 鈥淚t represents useful progress for our country that I believe we have to see it through.鈥�
And while a majority of French have voiced support for the strikers, recent polls show support 鈥� and patience 鈥� may be ebbing.
Not so unionized
The right to strike is deeply ingrained in the mindset here, with the 1968 student protests a reference point for understanding French society. Strikes do happen often, but lately their results are a mixed bag. Some strikes are popular in France, others 聽not 鈥� usually depending on the sector and how inconvenient they are. The unions are facing declining membership, at just under 8 percent, according to OECD figures, though unlike in the US, most workers are covered by union protections even if they aren鈥檛 members.
These strikes happen to hit at the heart of French pessimism about globalization, which is why support for them has remained relatively high.
鈥淚 think that France is a country that is afraid to reform,鈥� says Guy Groux, an expert on trade unions and social movements at Sciences Po in Paris. Reform proposals trigger classic defenses, he says. 鈥淧eople feel that they have something to lose, that they are never going to win.鈥�
In fact, the majority of voters can understand the arguments on both sides, perhaps no one better than Caroline Peyeralde, who is awaiting a permanent contract. It means everything to her 鈥� she鈥檚 been out of a job for a year and a half. And she鈥檚 been unable to find a new one, not least because French employers are afraid to hire workers, since under the current laws it is so hard to later fire them.
She knows France needs to change. Getting an internship at a bakery, which she hopes turns into a permanent job, has required navigating a maze of bureaucracy 鈥� wasting so much time that she could have lost the opportunity 鈥渁nd Hollande would lose the opportunity to have one less unemployed worker,鈥� she says. And she abhors the strikers who fight to perpetuate privileges and power 鈥� especially those who have resorted to violence.
But she supports these strikes in general because otherwise she believes it鈥檚 a race to the bottom. 鈥淯nfortunately you have to聽be radical to be heard,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey [the government] don鈥檛 listen otherwise. They don鈥檛 work in bakeries, they don鈥檛 live in my tiny apartment.鈥�
A deeper meaning
She touches on a growing sentiment: that these strikes are the expression of a generalized discontent about the direction of French society, an outlook encapsulated perfectly in the youth movement called Nuit Debout.
Nuit Debout started as a youth protest against the labor reform but now stands against everything from mainstream politics and nuclear power to GMOs and capitalism. Young people camping out at Republique square talk defiantly about 鈥渃hanging the system鈥� and having their message heard 鈥渁round the world.鈥�
But it鈥檚 also about coming together to express fear that their prospects will never match that of their parents, says Gwen Hertling, one of the protesters. 鈥淔or years, people were in their corners, complaining alone and upset about how things were going in the country,鈥� he says. 鈥淧eople are happy to finally be united all together.鈥�
All of these strikes and demonstrations, including some incidents of violence, have the tourism board on edge. Hotel occupancy is already way down after the terrorist attacks in November. "The scenes of guerrilla-type action in the middle of Paris, beamed around the world, reinforce the feeling of fear and misunderstanding," the tourist board said.
But for now the French people remain more patient.聽Thomas Guenole, political scientist in France, says polls showing tolerance for the strikes reflect the classic divide between France (along with many other European countries) and the Anglo-Saxon world where the 鈥渃ulture of individualism is way stronger,鈥� he says.
That means the inconvenience to the individual is emphasized in the US or Britain, for example, 鈥渨hile we put way more consideration into the legitimacy of the collective fight for rights.鈥�
鈥� Colette Davidson contributed to this report.
