SaligoBay Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 Today in Paris there are two big manifs, one against the nuclear industry, and one against the headscarf ban.Recently there were the ones against raising tobacco prices, followed by tabacs having to have armed guards.Before that there were the prostitutes manifesting themselves en masse.Before that there were the teachers' strikes and multiple manifestations.Before that there were the ones against Le Pen.And there really does seem to be someone somewhere on strike at any given time. Tram drivers, cash-machine filler-uppers, embassy staff, top scientists threatening to resign, actors, air traffic controllers, musicians.To those of you more politically astute than me - do these strikes and manifs actually work? Or is it bread and circuses?Thank you very much,SaligoBay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 LAST EDITED ON 17-Jan-04 AT 05:57 PM (GMT)I was on a manif that seemed to work. Contra some 'new' reform in education, must be at least 10 years ago now. It peeed down all day long and we had a smashing time. When we got to Paris we had to catch the metro to get to our bit of the start of the manif. The platform was packed, I mean PACKED and there were about 10 of us from our village, staying together in a foule like that was hard and Agnes and I got stuck behind. I felt hands grabbing me and I suppose she did too as we were woth literally dragged onto the train that the others had managed to board. We howled with laughter, goodness knows who they'd bowled over getting us on that train. Do manif's work, well some do, some don't. Some of the wagon drivers strikes made the government back down in the past. These days and I'm not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 Whether or not they work, let's be grateful that at least the French live in a country where they have the right to demonstrate publicly. Not that I felt that way when I lived there and had the CRS camped outside my apartment door every Saturday and occasionally feared for my sitting room windows. Margaret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted January 18, 2004 Author Share Posted January 18, 2004 >Today in Paris there are two >big manifs, one against the >nuclear industry, and one against >the headscarf ban. Merde, big coverage of the headscarf thing on the BBC news, is there no getting away from it!http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3406969.stmRead Chirac on secularism there, answers most questions.Did anyone see the news the other night, that town where they've added "Laicit" to the Libert Egalit Fraternit banners?Do you think it's worth adding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted February 20, 2004 Share Posted February 20, 2004 Not exactly a strike but a protest here recently when thousands of cauliflowers were dumped on the roadsides and roundabouts here in north finistre. The problem - believe it or not, because the weather has been so mild, all the vegetables have grown at the same rate and have had to be harvested when normally they are cut in Dec, Jan & Feb for market. Therefore the growers have demanded that they be compensated for a natural disaster which just about takes the biscuit I think. I will still warn everyone NEVER EVER pick up any dumped produce, usually it has been doused in diesel to burn it as part of the protest. You should have smelt these things four days later rotting onthe sides of the roads! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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