France was virtually shut down yesterday, as an estimated million or more demonstrated the impact of the recession and government policies to deal with the downturn. Flights were canceled, schools, post offices, and even courts closed, as commuters endured long treks to work as public transport services suffered disruption of varying degrees.
The demonstrations were warnings of serious discontentment sent to conservative government of President Nicolas Sarkozy. Workers in France are angry about what they see as an insufficient government’s efforts to protect both public and private sector jobs.
People are upset that union and employee concerns over stagnating salaries and slumping purchasing power were ignored when the government drew up its $34 billion economic stimulus package. Many remain concerned over the lack of any real effort to impose tighter regulations on banks and finance groups in France and abroad, despite Sarkozy’s rousing call last year to "moralize financial capitalism".the strike showed 69% of people supported or sympathized with Thursday’s action.
Sarkozy may also be getting it back for his mocking comment to fellow conservatives in July, when he quipped that public support of his reforms had dealt the unions a deathblow. "These days, when there’s a strike, no one notices," he said. Fairtosay they are getting notice.
