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December 23, 2005

Constitutional, cultural differences

Nul n'est censé ignorer la loi, so you should already know this, but the current French constitution includes a prevision to legalize striking for most workers. In practice it seems like transport workers are probably more likely to strike than people in other sectors. I assume that if I ever went out on strike, my employer would either just find it amusing -- since all my work would still be there for me when I went back -- and laugh at me, or fire me on some pretext, or both. (I'm pretty sure my employer would in fact realize I was out, because the law requires that you give formal notice of your intention to strike.)

According to the BBC News, this is not the case for NYC transport workers:

The union had been faced with fines and jail terms for its leaders, as the law bans transport workers from striking.

You'd have to be in a difficult position indeed to want your crappy job so bad that you're willing to risk fines and jail for it. BBC News said the transport workers went back to work without a contract. Here in France, the talk is not about amending the constitution, but instead about mandatory minimum service. The idea is that you can continue to strike as long as you do the work anyway.

My take is that our management should go out on strike, threatening to come back only when we all agree to be easier to manage. They'd be out for quite a while, but we'd probably get a lot done in the meantime.

Posted by Mark at December 23, 2005 09:47 PM

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