[PEN-L:2428] Re: Le Monde on French strike wave (fwd)

[D Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>]

> From: "Richard Hyman" <irobrh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Organization: Warwick Business School
> To: D Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>
> Date: Thu, 18 Jan 1996 10:22:03 GMT
> Subject: Re: Le Monde on French strike wave
>
> Many thanks for forwarding the Le Monde piece, which I had not seen.
> I hope, and it seems possible, that the French struggles will give
> our European rulers pause for thought about their monetarist line.
> It adds to concern that mounting European unemployment is intolerable
> even in narrow orthodox-economic terms, quite apart from the social
> and political consequences.  There is now a genuine political battle
> being conducted: the outcome of the intergovernmental conference
> later this year will be decisive.  My optimism is limited.
>
> I felt the specific discussion of the French events was a little too
> euphoric.  The strikes were essentially public sector events, in
> defence of primarily sectional and particularistic advantages.  They
> attracted substantial popular support, but public opinion was
> nevertheless split.  See the detailed survey report in Le Monde, 18
> December.  I suspect they may be typical of a general trend in
> Europe: governments responding to their various fiscal crises by
> trying to impose on the public sector (directly, or through
> privatisation) the sort of cuts in conditions which private sector
> workers have already suffered in the past 15 years, and facing
> resistance from unions which in most cases are far stronger in the
> public than the private sector.  How unions handle this requires
> great strategic sensitivity, if they are to be perceived as
> struggling on behalf of a common (class) interest rather than in
> defence of sectional privileges.
>
>
>
>
> Richard Hyman
> IRRU, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL
> Phone: +44 1203 523840   Fax: 524656
>