The strikes and mass demonstrations witnessed in France on Tuesday should not come as a surprise for anyone familiar with French unions. Labor unions have in recent years used mass protests in response to various governments' efforts to bring down the country's unemployment rate. What is surprising, however, is that employers and personnel managers, who were expected to cheer the government's policies of workplace flexibility, have not uniformly come out in support of the plans.
See "The Workplace: 3-strikes rule may not fly in France", Thomas Fuller, International Herald Tribune, October 4, 2005