la grève= strike
"Strikes.... a French way way of life," our coordinator told us at the beginning of last week. And now, I have added that to a list of my French cultural observations. The French people believe very strongly in assembling to voice their opinions in protest of anything they may not agree with. The education system, pension for social workers, or the government in general- all are currently under fire from protesters around the country.
Like the U.S., France is also experiencing the effects of a economic crisis. As a response, the French people gather in protests around the country that can cause major disruption to public transportation, education and other public sectors.
Living in France, we were forewarned of last Thursday's strikes via news broadcasts and signs around campus. Eight major unions, including much of the transportation sector, called on President Nicholas Sarkozy to reevaluate his policies. Nonetheless, I was still able to catch a bus to campus for my morning class. While our professor did show up, his audience was slim. Myself and another American student were 2 of 8 students in attendance. We were confused as our teacher dismissed us only 30 minutes into class for a general assembly. As we followed the other students to an auditorium, we figured out that it was an assembly to discuss the department's involvement in the strikes. A student presented information concerning other university's and the actions they had taken as well as reasons why the university population needed to take action.
It was interesting to follow what I could of the discussion. Teachers, students, and office staff alike took part discussing ideas and opinions. Blocking the doors, a sit-in, and not just not attending for a day were all brought up- a vote was even taken.
The assembly left me contemplative about why large-scale strikes and protesting are such a huge part of French culture; yet, rare in the U.S. I thought it was ironic that while French university students attend their institutions for practically free (about $200/year at Sorbonne), they are very vocal about any disagreement within their education system. Whereas, here in the U.S., we pay thousands of dollars and remain complacent about what we get.
While I am definitely not getting involved in any riots, the observations of the strikes were really intriguing to me and I thought I would share!
Here are two articles if you want to know more about the strikes last week-
BBC- Article 1
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