Al, you make good points. I hadn't thought of it that way. Thanks for clarifying.

ELLEN....pretty hard to equate French strikes with USA. The French use the 24 hour strike as a statement and warning to negotiate. This is very rare in the US, in fact I can't remember when. Most USA strikes are after negotiations break down and the length of the strike is when one side or the other gives in..no specific time limit.
As far as strike pay (if one calls it that) it depends on the finances of the union and the length of the strike.
Many In the US many unions raise strike funds....or have it said aside....and what the strikers get is not necessarily related to their wages, or how long they get it.

Ellen -- at this point, the strike is called for one day. And yes, many workers are compensated according to their union contract.

Will the strike later this month last one day? Are workers paid while they're striking or is there a fund for them as in the US?

Al -- those days appear to be over where EVERY restaurant closes. During this economic slowdown, business owners who are self-employed hesitate to go without any and all revenue.

Government workers (or people who belong to unions) and the unemployed are more likely to strike. That is not to say that business is not impacted.

Last time I was in Paris during a general strike it included EVERYBODY . It was many years ago and the only restaurants open were mainly Mom and Pop spots with family style eating. Come to think of it, it was a restaurant strike and that makes it seem like everybody. I expect to be in Paris this time.Will be staying in the St. Germain area and all I want is within walking distance. Hope its only rapid transit that is playing games.

The usual suspects: Trains, metros, students, teachers, truckers .... etc.

http://www.france24.com/en/20090209-unions-call-more-protests-march-19-strikes-france-sarkozy

A thrill a minute. People aren't happy over the current economy. Who is?

And are they usually country-wide? (I wish we could edit these posts!)

What services are usually included in a general strike?

Speaking of strikes, there's another general strike coming up on Thursday, March 19.

Oh joy! :-D

Stacy and Karen, you wouldn't want RATP to be perfect, would you? By the way, the bus drivers can be in continuous communication with their dispatcher. I had one driver who was guided around a manif by the dispatcher on the other end of the walkie-talkie.

Stacy ... thanks for jogging my memory bank. You caused me to recall the time I was on a bus .... that was caught in the midst of of manif. The driver was having none of it and navigated the bus up a one way street -- naturally going in the wrong direction. When we arrived at our "safe haven," the passengers applauded. The driver bowed.
How I love France! Most of the time. ;-)

The RATP site is helpful if they know about the manif in advance, but several times I've checked the site a while before leaving only to run into an unplanned demonstration en route that wasn't listed on the site nor posted at the bus stops.

I've witnessed some amazing bus drivers who, even though unprepared for an impromptu manifestation, manage to find their way around all of the blocked streets and still keep their good humor in dealing with the circuitous route, the delays, and the frustrated passengers.

Marc -- I'm not always convinced the RAPT always knows which metro stops that it will have to close.

One trick (which I always forget to do) is to go online to the RATP site just before you leave and check the "Trafic" section. RATP is pretty good at letting you know which bus lines will be perturbées by manifs. (Not that they ever tell you what the subject of the manif is. Don't want to encourage them, I suppose.) Of course, I doubt most Parisians check the online site. How do they know? Probably through the posters RATP puts up at bus stops to inform you if there will be a disturbance on the line. RATP is good--though not completely reliable--at getting the posters up in time. Unfortunately, they often put them (we're usually just talking about nothing more than an A4 piece of paper) where you don't see them immediately.

Stacy -- I am with you. I've found myself in some very strange places and making frantic calls as to why I'm not where I am supposed to be. The French appear to understand. I never will. A cultural difference??

At least with the strikes they're required to declare them in advance. The manifs pop up seemingly on a moment's notice and disrupt traffic. As a bus rider, I hate going somewhere only to be slowed, temporarily rerouted, or dropped somewhere far from the expected destination because a manifestation is taking place.

While I lived in France, I experienced a rail strike, a postal strike and a water strike (those are the ones I remember :). I could live with the first two, but the latter was a little irritating. But as you said, Karen, they don't last long. C'est la vie...

Strikes are a way of life in Paris. They are serious but generally don't disrupt life for too long. It's helps if you work at home or can walk to your office. There was a manif recently on Bv. Montparnasse. There were groups of police EVERYWHERE and one bank had closed its ATMs. I was able to access money from the bank next door. After a couple hours, business was back to normal.

We have had several experiences. The earliest was in 1973, a transportation strike. We were at a hotel near Etoile, and noticed a whole like of riot police vans with cops that looked like pro linebackers. The cops started to line up to march to the metro exits at Etoile - we went the other direction on Avenue Wagram. The next was a bank workers strike in 1987, and the only way we could get Francs was to go to the Post Office to cash our travelers checks (remember them??). In the late 90's, there was an air traffic controllers strike. Now that I think of it, there were several, but only resulted in a few hour delays.

There is going to be a general strike this coming Thursday. THAT means everything. If you are here, PLEASE post your experiences. It's going to be a whooper!!

or not.

We landed at CDG in 2003 on the day of the all-France transportation strike. It was interesting--our AA plane was the only thing moving on the tarmac, but as there were no extendable gates out came the rolling stairs. I couldn't manage them because of a knee problem and had requested a wheelchair, just in case. Good thing! Another man in a wheelchair and I were rolled into a compartment on top of a very tall contraption that looked like something out of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The thing crept slowly over to the covered ramp extending out from the AA satellite, and we were taken inside through a door at that level.


Lines at Immigration weren't bad, as ours was the only plane. But when we got to Customs we discovered that no one was there. No one at all. What a great time for people bringing in contraband!

Because of the strike we had had to change our connecting flight to Nice to Orly and take the Air France bus over. Supervisors were driving the buses, and things went fairly smoothly. At Orly it was the same problem with climbing lots and lots of steps. When we landed at Nice and looked out at the Promenade des Anglais it all looked like a holiday--many people out enjoying the sunlight.

Anceyfrance, Many of those strikes were for 1 or 2 days, like the Metro strikes in the 50-s, if you did not read in the pepars about them, you noticed many business people in suites, roller-skating to work, with a briefcase in their hand. It was a pretty funny picture. Generally they only lasted 1 or 2 days, by then the strikers figued everybodu know why they struck, and everybody, including the gov't knew why they were striking, and everthing went back to normal - for at least several months. After a few months, when there was on other strike, the gov't resigned, a new prime minister was appointed, and everithing went OK for a few momths, and the circle stated again (actually the same 4-5 prime ministers followed each other).

BP Chuck

This is true BPAL, sadly. But things change...usually from bad to worse, then start to get better again. Strikes can be an annoyance. I really hate to tell you that I have barely been inconvenienced by them. Well, at least I have not missed a flight because of them. I may not see the humour in a day without services then. I would be interested to hear what those participants think of their actions now?.

I started this thread not too long ago and in rereading it with all the experiences added to it I realized that the strikes of today in France...while a big inconvenience to many are really a piece of cake to the strikes that existed in Paris during the 20th century. I remember one in the 80's that involved students at the Sorbonne and in the police "sweeps" to head off demonstrators many tourists and plain ordinary civilians were herded with the students with gentility not on their minds.