2nd October 2011

Aux barricades!  Yes, the French are going on strike yet again. Tuesday 11th, the five main unions are calling for coordinated action against the country's austerity plans. 
It's all deja vu. I'm thinking back to the '70s when the unions brought the whole country to a standstill.  Yes, it was a different country, yes it was a different union leader, but the motive and rationale were just the same:  we don't like the country's leader - far too arrogant, the party's not to our taste and I'd like some of that power and glory for myself.  And, while all this prancing about and celebrity-chasing was going on, the ordinary man in the street was suffering.  No services, no transport, no vital utilities.
You can be forgiven for thinking all this is 'crying wolf'.  France is hardly in Greece's position, yet. But what if things were really bad (like in 1930s Germany), would anyone listen to the unions then?  This is a democracy:  if you don't like the government's policies, simply vote them out. At a time when the economy is at such a critical stage and we're all worried about the euro, it's preposterous of the unions and the strikers themselves to cost the country even more money. Him indoors says any striking aircrews should stage a walkout at 30000 feet....