French are protesting a longer work week
March 10, 2005I vacationed in Paris this past Christmas holiday and I loved the city. It seemed like any busy bustling metropolis–lots of energy, everyone working hard and playing hard.
But apparently it’s an illusion. They don’t want to work hard at all–the unions are protesting plans to allow for more overtime.
C’mon people, you’ve already got 35-hour work weeks, month-long summer holiday, health care, what more do you want? Somebody has to work, to power the economic engine that pays for all the great public transit and beautiful parks and all the other accoutrement you’ve got.
It’s always seemed like a weird dichotomy–on the one hand French-led projects like Arianespace are kicking our butts. So you get this image of an industrious hard working bunch of people. Then you read about these people protesting a couple hours of overtime, when they already have so many more free benefits than we get in the US. And you think they must be the laziest people ever.
Two different impressions of France, which is the real France?
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