In truth, I wanted to stop thinking about the strikes and simply post cute pictures of cats that look like Hitler, but the sheer bulk of ridiculous things said and written about the strikes in France is too much for me.
Here is a shortlist of the worst misconceptions about the strikes in France.
1) The strikers are protesting the increase in the retirement age from 60 to 62 (and full pensions from 65 to 67).
FALSE: Most of the strikers paralysing France have "special" retirement plans (régimes spéciaux). Refinery workers (on 3/8), air traffic controllers, EDF workers and train and metro drivers can stop work and receive pensions in their fifties. They will NEVER have to work to 62. (In fact, they probably won't even have to work until age 60).
2) The strikers blocking France are sacrificing themselves for the other workers who are not striking.
FALSE FALSE FALSE ! This would be laughable if it weren't so pathetic. They do not give a **x'(-è_ about other workers. They simply want to scare the government from ever even considering putting into place a system where the burden is shared fairly. (The last negociation about the régimes spéciaux was catastrophic for taxpayers. To get unions to agree to modest changes, the government showered financial advantages on them.
3) The garbage strike in Marseilles is about pensions.
FALSE: It's about the reorganisation of garbage collection in Marseilles.
4) The young are protesting because the reform hurts them.
FALSE: Pensions are currently financed by debt, which is a promise by the old now that the young will pay later. Actually it is in the interest of the young to raise the retirement age as high as possible to create a surplus that can be used to pay down France's horrendous national debt-- then lower it again in forty years when they retire.
Tragically, the young do not seem to know this. This is because dishonest and selfish adults and clueless (or cunning) student leaders have TOLD the young terrible lies. If you have any doubt about this, read UNEF's site where it lists its demands. (pensions at 60; credit for studying and being unemployed; not a word about finance or debt).
5) Strikes are voted democratically
FALSE Actually, the mecanism for voting strikes deserves close and impartial study. Secret ballots? No. Public show of hands. Quorums to ensure that the workers (or students) are properly represented? No. A tiny minority can pretend to speak for the majority. (In many universities, ID is not even controlled. Activitists can "vote" --that is, yell and intimidate real students). Lack of representation, intimidation, fear of reprisals make it easy for a highly motivated and extreme minority to impose its will.
6) Blockades are a legal part of striking.
FALSE: It is actually illegal, even in France, to prevent a non-striker from going to work, to block a road or factory or to destroy things.
For French readers, here is an interesting article in Le Monde.
