[Mais oui! I wish France would export some of its class consciousness to the US -- they've got tons to spare, e.g.:]
Hundreds of Thousands Protest Against Labor Law in France
BY MEG BORTIN and CRAIG S. SMITH
PARIS, March 28 — Hundreds of thousands of people began demonstrating in cities across France today as opponents of a new labor law launched the biggest nationwide protest to date, with the government of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin under mounting pressure to withdraw the legislation.
Traffic was disrupted from early this morning on trains, planes, buses and the Paris Metro as unions heeded calls to observe a one-day strike against the law. School children enjoyed a free day as a majority of teachers stayed home, newsstands were empty due to a distribution strike, the main French radio network broadcast only music, mail was not delivered, some banks were closed, and most universities remained shut down as students prepared to march.
In Paris, where 4,000 police officers were called out to keep order following major violence in the city center during a protest last week, march organizers were expecting a record turnout. Red-and-white police cordons blocked cars from parking along the demonstration route early this morning, and at the Place de la Bastille, the hulking facade of the capital's modernist opera house was festooned with a banner reading: "Bastille Opera on Strike."
Turnout was high at morning demonstrations in Marseille in the south, in Tours in the Loire Valley, and in the Brittany city of Rennes, France's LCI television reported. Asked how she felt about the inconvenience caused by the strikes, one Marseille woman complained that not enough people had stopped work. "Everyone should be on strike," she said. ...
Carl