No Love for Strikes in France

Today, Tuesday, March 23, six metro lines were shutdown, as well as some bus routes and trains due to a public transport workers’ union strike.  Such strikes are not uncommon, nor are they typically considered a great inconvenience.  In fact, this past weekend, la RATP (the public transportation service in the île de France region) issued a notice that public transportation workers belonging to the unions CGT, SUD, Indépendants and UNSA would be striking on Tuesday.  The strike was organized and Parisian commuters were even warned which specific metro lines would be out of service at which time.

While some were able to reroute their metro commute, others – such as myself – opted to take taxis rather than navigate the over-crowded, chaotic Parisian underground.

French people protest in response to nearly every issue ranging from education reform, to new tax policy, to the construction of a new highway.  Having to navigate around a mass of people waving flags and rallying in the middle of the street is a monthly, if not weekly, necessity while living in Paris.

Nevertheless, although strikes are organized and considered somewhat of a French tradition, “people are not as supportive these days,” claimed my taxi driver, “ten years ago, we got mad at the government but today, we get mad at the workers.”  Ten years ago, the fact that the metro workers were striking was considered the government’s fault, for the government must not have been treating the metro workers fairly.  However today, as people begin to identify more and more as consumers, rather than workers, it is the public transportation employees who are to blame for failing to provide a service and inconveniencing thousands of Parisian commuters.

The Socialist Party just defeated the national governing party of Nicolas Sarkozy, the UMP, in this past week’s regional elections.  After the great success of the Socialist Party in the regional elections, the popular communist newspaper, L’Humanité, published an edition with Sarkozy’s face on the front page, under which “Rejection” was written.

Yet there is no denying that France is evolving into a society more influenced by capitalist consumer ideals.  For instance, ten years ago, tipping waiters, taxi drivers, etc., was a completely foreign notion in France.  American tourists who didn’t know any better weren’t considered generous for tipping, but rather stupid and frivolous with their money.  Similarly, American tourists who insisted, “the customer is always right” often came in contact with very rude service people.  The waiters were considered workers and the customers were considered workers.  The only difference between the waiters and the customers was that the customers happened not to be working at that time.

Though this sentiment still exists in France, it has become increasingly more common over the past few years to leave a pourboire (tip).  “You leave a tip if you’re a really big party or the service was really good,” claims a French friend.

This relatively new concept of tipping has changed the entire restaurant experience in France.  Five or ten years ago – even insmaller restaurants or cafes – it was not uncommon to see your waiter once throughout the course of the meal, nor was it uncommon to wait forty minutes before being served.  However, the concept of “working for a tip,” coupled with the new tendency to identify as a “consumer,” rather than a “worker,” has motivated service people to cater more towards the consumers.  The customer is not yet “always right” – but at least no longer “always wrong.”