Season Of The Strike

It's that time again. spring is in the air and France is going out on strike. Last week teachers walked off their jobs for the fourth time this school year to protest a range of proposed reforms, and this week the country will grind to a halt as millions of other public-sector workers demonstrate against planned government pension reforms — measures that a majority of French people say are both inevitable and long overdue. Unions warned such "limited 24-hour strikes may not be enough," but Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin vowed to stand firm. "The street should express itself," he said. "But...