The Right to Strike

I woke up (reluctantly) at 6:00 this morning and drove the hour to get to my 8:00 class, only to find all of the entrances to the school locked or blocked by students. Turns out the proposed cut to university education is making highschoolers as angry as it is making university students. I guess we offer a higher/career oriented degree at my school (Emile Roux), and if Sarkozy and the government succeed with their plans, schools may cut such programs. If those programs are cut, students may have to travel further and pay more for their degree.

I've been told that the French hold public services (like education) absolutely sacred, so the privitisation, or semi-privitisation, of the school/university system is an outrage. I mentioned to a teacher that a walk-out planned my senior year of highschool was squashed before it took place. We had to find another way to protest the invasion of Iraq -- or else be suspended. To that, the teacher told me that the French insist on the right to strike. She said it was as important to them as the right to bear arms was to Americans.

I don't know how much I personally value, nor do I take advantage of my right to own a gun, but there is no denying that the French often use strikes to demontrate their disagreement. I have seen one television show since I've been here. It was a cartoon I watched while babysitting about a child witch who organized a strike at her elementary school to get better facilities. I guess that shows how important strikes are and how ingrained that is in the French mentality. Right now, students and transportation workers all over the country are making their statement against privitisation, and that means I have a long weekend.