STRIKE

Sort of like Camembert and Bordeaux wine, or the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, there are certain things that are quintessentially French. Strikes are one of them.

As of last night, an enormous number of French employees have begun striking. The entire rail network is on strike, which in a country whose veins are its train tracks is debilitating. All of Paris' transit workers are on strike. So far this means that no one without a car, a scooter, a bicycle, or a hardy pair of feet can get to where they want to go unless they're willing to shell out the big bucks for the hard-to-find, much-in-demand cabs.

These workers are being supported by France's energy and electricity workers, who either are on strike or are about to go on strike as I type this. They are threatening targeted blackouts. Perfect.

Also supporting the transit workers are the students. Now, I know that for most North Americans the idea of students going on strike seems a little bit like kids playing dress-up in their parents' clothes. But student strikes are big business in France. And they usually aren't about Darfur or AIDS in Africa. They are egocentric, self-interested efforts to get the best out of the world. Students have been 'blockading' about 20 of France's 80-something universities for the past week or so protesting a suspected move to allow some universities to accept private donations. Their problem is that this would raise some universities above others. Heaven forbid. Anyhow, the students - already in action mode - are taking further moves to support the transit strike.

I'm told that civil servants, particularly teachers, may also soon strike, as will judges and court staff who are protesting moves to eliminate redundancies in the courts.

This does not look like it will be just any French strike. No. It is organized and it is affecting people across the country. The unions have dug in their heels and appear to be prepared to refuse almost anything. They are up against a newly elected and seemingly popular president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who talks a big talk about taking a hard line with unions and modernizing and streamlining France's bloated, over-paid, and over-pampered public sector.

This, as we say, is showtime. And whether I like it or not, I have a front row seat.