Sud de France 3.1: Operation Escargot

Today is the big national strike against Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to “reform” France’s retirement laws. What is most striking about the strike is that it illustrates just how different the French are from Americans.

The backbone of the strike, which in French is called a “grève,” is made up of the teamster unions who through a deliberate slowdown called “Opération escargot” they’ve disrupted gasoline supplies around the country. Their activities focused too on closing refineries and blocking jet fuel to the nation’s airports. It’s caused the cancellation of 30-50% of the Air France’s flights. Gasoline for autos has been less hard hit, so far, because France is dipping into its national reserves to make up for the shortages. Here in the Herault some stations have signs up saying that they are out of gasoline. 

Rupture means broken up or simply 'no gas.'

But here’s what points out the difference between our two countries. The truck drivers aren’t affected by the reforms. They can retire at 55 because of a special law exempting them from the retirement rules. They have no ‘skin in the game.’ They could sit out this one out.

So why are they participating? One simple answer is that the French have grèves the way Americans have tailgate parties; there’s usually one every couple of weeks. It’s in their blood and the unions support each other. That’s called solidarity. Also France has the lowest poverty rate in the EU, (12%) and there is concern that the “reform” will impoverish some people. The strikers seem to have the idea that it a nation’s responsibility to take care of its people and help keep them out of poverty. Something unheard of in the US or at least that hasn’t been heard since LBJ’s “War on Poverty.” 

But there’s yet another reason for the strikes that should sound awfully familiar to Americans and doesn’t get much play in the foreign media. There’s a tax, like our estate tax, that affects only the very wealthiest in France. Sarkozy wants to eliminate it even though it brings in billions of Euros each year. Ending it means that Sarko needs to cut government spending to keep the deficit under control. And what sort of cuts do you think he’s come up with? He’s “reforming” the retirement system to make up for the lost revenue from taxes on the rich.

Agree or disagree with the need for reform at least the French aren’t taking this kind of chicanery sitting down. They’ve kept the issue alive and personal by mobilizing the nation. Over 71% of the people support the strikes despite the gas lines and shortages. 

The graffiti reads, "When the state violates your rights, insurrection is your sacred right."

Here in France they still believe that you have go out into the streets and fight for your rights. We used to do that in the USA but it’s a lesson we seem to have forgotten.

Photos and text © 2010 Steve Meltzer

Sud de France 2.9: The Kids are All Right.

Despite his elevator shoes and brusque manner French President Nicolas Sarkozy hasn’t managed to raise his popularity among the French. Less than 28% of the populace agrees with his policies and even his supporters don't seem to like him very much. 

The most despised of his policies is his plan to reform the retirement system and raise the age of retirement to 62. Unlike our Social Security the French retirement system pays benefits that are  near to one’s working salary. Like our Social Security, workers pay into a fund and so this is not an entitlement but old age insurance. But there's a big difference. The rules allow workers who work at a job for 40 years to retire with full benefits no matter their age. If you get a job at 16 you can retire at 56. It’s clearly something worth fighting for.

 

The big surprise about the demonstrations and protests has been that they have spread to schools across France and the kids have sat down in front of their schools in solidarity with the older workers.As a child of the sixties it warms my heart to see people take to the streets to fight for their beliefs and to stand up to a short guy’s government. 

In America we’ve forgotten how to do it. And don’t get me started about the Tea Party demonstrators who when I see them on TV look more like a bunch of frustrated oldsters who forty years ago didn’t get to protest the war, get stoned or have sex. They are angry and loud and to me ultimately very sad. 

We were in Pezenas the other day and parked near the Lycée Agricole. Outside the school groups of high school students were sitting around outside school having shut it down. They had handmade signs and a few even appealed to Carla Bruni (Sarko’s Italian folk singer wife) to take over as head of state and straighten things out. 

But despite these closures, walkouts and demonstrations Sarkozy has held firm. The protesters strategy has been a to create a series of stoppages and closures that roll through the country seemingly at random. Transportation in the capital has nearly ground to a halt. The TGV, the Metro are all on reduced schedules and a strike by jet fuel truck drivers has caused chaos at Charles de Gaulle. Here in Herault, some 300 miles from Paris, the strikes are being felt too. The line at the gas station was longer than usual and a sign asked customers to limit their fuel purchases to 50 Euros of gas (about 10 gallons of unleaded).

Everyone expects and hopes that this weekend the government will reach for compromise. But this is France and political demonstrations are a way of life. Especially with something as important as the retirement system everyone is ready for a protracted confrontation. 

I started photographing the students at the Lycée and a few came over to talk about their reasons for being out of school. They wanted two things to be clear. First of all they really see the change in the retirement age as a blow against their futures. Jobs have always been scarce in France and the current retirement system helped get older workers out of the jobs thus providing room for younger people. It also means that they’ll have to work longer than their parents to be able to retire. They see this as fundamentally unfair.

But the second reason was also important, They were on strike to show France that young people care about their country’s future. They wanted their voices heard in this debate and as one put it, “We don’t want to have to break things (referring to the riots in the suburbs of Paris) for people to listen to us.”

Photos and text © 2010 Steve Meltzer

Right on.