France Transit Strike- Sarkozy 1, Unions 0

After 9 days of strikes, an unusual event in France where there are many strikes but they normally last only a day or two, the French unions caved in to the demands of President Nicolas Sarkozy, and almost all workers have returned to their jobs. French citizens and tourists, who were on the whole greatly inconvenienced by the lack of available public transport, especially in Paris, can now plan on moving about the country or returning to work in a normal manner. So if you are headed for Paris soon, you should not be delayed by the transit strikes any longer.

Sarkozy thus has been victorious in his first clash with the powerful French unions. Certainly he wanted to let them know that he was going to stand firm and will do so in the future as he continues with other reforms that the unions will not like. He picked a great issue to start with, as only a small number of public employees were eligible for a special retirement package that was paid for by the state. He said this situation was unfair and outdated, and the majority of French people backed him. By taking the bait to challenge Sarkozy on this issue, the unions overstepped their bounds in terms of popular opinion. They will need to be more careful in the future. One had the feeling that the unions were foaming at the mouth to challenge Sarkozy, but his favorable public opinion scores since the election have made this difficult.

Normally when there is a major strike the government gives in right away, offers concessions, and then things return to normal until the next time. Public servants in France, called “fonctionnaires”, not only have the right to strike in France, but they can tie up the country in knots and can’t be prevented from doing so. Since all the workers for the SNCF, the state owned rail company, the EDF, the state owned electric utility, and the GDF, the state owned gas company, are all employees of the state, one can see why things quickly grind to a halt.

The government proposed a series of negotiations that will last about a month. I expect they will offer some pay increases for workers and retirees, but the special retirement provision is out the window. It has been reported that this will save the French government something like 7 billion euros (about $10 billion) per year.

Sarkozy has other strikes to deal with as well. The issue of “pouvoir d’achat”, or cost of living (“the power to purchase”, translated literally) is the largest issue for French families right now, and Sarkozy has stated he will put forth more proposals to address this problem soon. Sarkozy has also often stated that he thinks the salaries of French people are too low. The problem is getting the economy growing fast enough to produce results. The social policies adopted by France over the years, such as the 35 hour work week for example, have resulted in an unemployment rate of about double that of other European countries, in the opinion of many.

So if you are going to France soon you won’t have to worry about trains, busses, and subways not working, at least for a while.

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In Paris During Transit Strike

One of our subscribers was in Paris this past week during the transit strike, which is still ongoing. Here’s what he had to say:

“We tried to make the best of our trip - all in all, we probably lost 1 day of sightseeing because it took longer to do everything...but other than that...the trip was great.
We took the Air France bus from the airport to Etoile and then took the metro...and we used the bikes to go from one place to another - what a great concept - it was awesome...we had such a good time...being from New York -we are used to walking so we walked everywhere...
for our way back again - the hotel said it was a long wait for taxi and since we only had hand luggage - we went to arc de triumph and then took the Air France bus.

We had a really good time...thanks for sending the ebook anyway.”

For details about the bike service he refers to- click here: Bike Service Paris

The ebook he refers to is entitled: “A Selection of 80 Inexpensive and Good Paris Restaurants”. For a free copy click here: France Tours and then click on the free ebook offer.

The stakes are high in this transit strike. Since this is the first labor confrontation with the Sarkozy government, neither side wants to back down. Negotiations between the unions, government, and management (the companies involved are state owned) will begin tomorrow, Wednesday. For now only about 25% of the union members are on strike, but they are succeeding in stopping about 75% of the public transport. Polls say that most French people are on the side of the government. There was even a small march recently with demonstrators holding signs saying the strike was egotistical on the part of the unions. It has been ongoing for about a week which is unusual for strikes in France. They normally only last a day or two.

My guess is that the government or the state owned companies will offer some higher salaries but will not cave on the fundamental issue, which is to eliminate special retirement benefits for some government workers and make them have to work as long as everyone else in order to retire. We’ll see. If you are to be in Paris in the next week or so, keep an eye out on events. We'll have another post to update on Thursday, after the word is out on how the initial negotiations went.

Win a Free Trip Worth $5,000

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Rosetta Stone is also sponsoring a holiday promotion for their language learning software. The offer is 10% off and free shipping. You can check this out by going to the Beaux Voyages home page, scroll down and click on the Rosetta Stone icon. Click here: France Tours

Sarkozy to Visit Bush-Restore Relations

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is visiting Washington today, making the next step to restore Franco-American relations which had been on bad terms since the beginning of the Iraq war. This is Sarkozy’s first official visit to the U.S. as President of France, but this is not his first visit. He and his family recently spent time on vacation in New England, a remarkable choice which also sent a message of friendship, and he stopped by the Bush compound in Maine during that time for an informal visit. It is impossible to imagine his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, making such a gesture. Personally I hope President Bush would make a visit to France and return the favor, or favors, in this case.

Sarkozy, who is accompanied by four of his ministers, including Bernard Kouchner, the foreign affaires minister, will meet with a delegation of French expats and business leaders in Washington as well as the mayor of Washington before having dinner at the White House with President Bush. He will also address a joint session of Congress and will supposedly talk about the historical bonds between the U.S. and France.

Sarkozy has always stated that France is a friend of the U.S., but France reserves the right to disagree on certain issues. He is quick to emphasize that friends don’t have to agree on everything.

Regardless of which country was more in the right regarding Iraq, it has been difficult to witness such anti-French sentiment in the U.S. over that time. I think these feelings have hurt operators of tours in France like ourselves, and a thaw in relations is overdue. People often ask us if we have been treated poorly in France because of the bad relationships between the two countries. Our answer is always in the negative, and we point out that in our opinion the French people in general did not take those problems personally. In other words they may have disagreed with the stance of our government, but they didn’t take it out on us as Americans or have hard feelings against individuals. I can’t always say the same about American feelings towards the French. The flow of nasty French jokes has slowed down a good bit, and I personally would like to see it stop. It is way overdue.

Feel free to make a comment- it will be posted on this blog regardless if you agree or disagree. The comment only has to be in good taste.

Visiting Paris? Here are a number of resources to help, including a free ebook entitled: "A Selection of 80 Inexpensive and Good Parisian Restaurants"- French cuisine only: Click on this link: Paris Sightseeing Tours

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Special Art Exhibitions in Paris

There are a number of notable art exhibits in Paris right now. Here is a rundown of four of the most significant.

At the Musee Picasso is an exhibition celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the painting that brought cubism into the world of art, Picasso’s famous “Demoiselles d’Avignon”. A number of his cubist works from 1906 to 1925 are on display. The museum is at 5 rue de Thorigny in the 3^rd arrondissement. The metro station is St. Paul, and the entrance fee is 6.50 euros. The exhibit runs through Jan. 7.

There is a major Corbet retrospective, the first of the great artist since 1977, at the Grand Palais which runs until Jan. 28^th. 120 paintings and 30 graphic works are shown, along with a number of photographs that point out details of his artistic ability and show how his paintings pertained to the social issues of his day. The Grand Palais is at 3 ave du General-Eisenhower in the 8^th arrondissement. The metro stop is Champs-Elysees.

An Impressionism exhibit is taking place at the Musee Marmottan-Monet until Feb 3. On display is the collection of the 19^th century Romanian physician Georges de Bellio and features works by Monet, Manet, Sisley, Pissarro, Renoir, Morisot, and others. The museum is at 2 rue Louis-Boilly in the 16^th arrondissement. The subway stop is La Muette. The exhibition costs 9 euros.

If you like Fragonard, over 100 of his 18^th century paintings and drawings are being displayed at the Musee Jacquemart-Andre at 158 blvd Haussmann in the 8^th arrondissement. The exhibition costs 9.50 euros and is on display until January 13^th. The metro stop is Miromesnil.

For those planning to visit Paris, click this link: Paris Sightseeing Tours. You'll see a wide array of Paris day and night tours and other resources that can be of help, including the Paris Pass, and links for Rosetta Stone language training, rail passes, hotels, a free restaurant guide, and more.

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