French Strike over Economic Crisis
From Reuters, via TV New Zealand. Hat-tip to Bob F. No mention of Sarkozy getting bitten by his dog (did anyone else hear about that, or did I make it up?).
Hundreds of thousands of French workers staged a nationwide strike to try to force President Nicolas Sarkozy and business leaders to do more to protect jobs and wages during the economic crisis.
Public transport was snarled in many cities, scores of flights were cancelled, and schools, banks, hospitals, the post office, law courts and state broadcasters were also expected to be hit by the protest.
The strike aims to highlight fears of growing unemployment, discontent over Sarkozy’s reluctance to help consumers and resentment towards bankers blamed for the economic slump.
“We need to sound a cry of anger,” said Francois Chereque, head of the moderate CFDT union.
In a rare show of unity, France’s eight national unions have backed the strike call and drawn up a joint list of demands for the government and companies, which they accuse of trying to use the crisis as a pretext to lay off workers and cut costs.
It is the first such protest linked to the economic crisis to hit a major industrialised nation and was backed by the majority of French voters, according to opinion polls.
However, it was not expected to snowball or threaten government stability.
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