A nationwide strike in France against proposed changes to state transportation workers should give Sarkozy his first real taste of conflict with the powerful unions. In the past this was generally the point where the president (Chirac) would fold up and forget about change but I suspect 2007 is different from 1995. Ten years ago, most working families in France probably felt relatively secure with their jobs and support for such nationwide strikes was very high. Today, there is so much angst among working families about their job status so it remains to be seen how much support the unions will this time.
The heart of this strike is over the unions accepting changes to their pension plan and bringing them in line with the majority of French workers. In its current form, the union workers receive retirement after 37.5 years as opposed to 40 for others. What the unions may be discounting, besides the shorter working life, is that a painfully high number of workers outside of the unions are sacked in their 50s, never being able to reach 40 years of contributions. The unions are seeking to protect their hard fought victories but it remains to be seen how sympathetic the rest of the country will be in light of their own struggles. Sarkozy has a very supportive media on his side (think the US media after 9/11) though this is not a country that likes change. There's more to come in this battle.
