French Strikes made easy

Stranger to France? Let me explain the madness (that's what I believe it is) going on here right now.

Government wants to introduce Retirement/Pension Reform, where retirement age will be pushed from 60 to 62 and the pension benefits will kick in from age 67 instead of 65. This is for people who work in the Private Sector in France.

Employees in the private sector cannot go on strike without much repercussions. Or so I have been told. And so, the French have this "system" in place, that allows citizens to protest without anyone losing their jobs. The employees in the public sector go on strike instead.

So the buses, trains, garbage disposal system etc, which have strong unions, go on strike to express the anger and frustration of the people working in the private sector. Though this time, some of the private sector employees have also joined in. Like those who work at the refineries & fuel companies.

BBC gives more updates about the matter...

So while you are stuck at the station, waiting for your train, go ahead buy some wine, cheese and baguette and enjoy relaxed life in France.

French Buses...

.. are not unlike those in Gainesville.

The one you should have caught is always on time (or even before time) while the one you ending travelling in is always 5 to 10 minutes late. Add the fact that the bus is every 20 or 40 minutes only, and you have a pretty sorry picture about your punctuality.

Which gets me to think about buses in India (since you always MUST compare it with stuff in India. It's a rule. Somewhere it has surely been written down). Pune has a bad bus system. I stopped using buses the minute I got my driver's license. And when I couldn't use the car/bike I use the rickshaws. The rickshaws aren't cheap (any more). And compared to the buses, absolutely not.

If I really think back hard and try to remember waiting for the bus, heck, I did actually spend 10-15 minutes at the bus stop every time. I used to have a class at 5 (p.m... I was/am sane) and I always left at around 4-ish. Distance to travel = 10 km. Actual time taken on bicycle = 40 minutes, car = 25 minutes (traffic, you see). So, there you go. It was as bad there as it is here.

But, I still crib about the buses here. Mumbai is another matter. It is so huge, that you must compare only cities like San Francisco, New York, Paris, London etc and their transport systems. So, I must basically learn to cut this place some slack. Or, buy a motorcycle and/or a car.