Follow the adventures of Liesha Stone –a sister trying to make a new life in the city of love, Paris. This week Liesha’s escapades take on a decisively more political theme…
I got a shock this morning: my best friend and ex-work colleague Julie from London gave me a call to tell me she had been made redundant. In fact, 30 people in the marketing department of our blue-chip employer had been let go, including the new recruit who had been brought in to replace me when I moved to Paris. If I had not left when I did, I would be out of a job, with very few options in this current economic climate.
My heart sank for Julie. She has two kids, a large mortgage and a man who is more often gone walkabout than at home helping raise the kids and pay the bills. If I was in London that would have been me, albeit without the kids and man, useless or otherwise. However, even though we worked for the same company, nobody in the French division was losing their jobs, because the employer/employee dynamic is completely different over here. To begin with, you need to understand some core principles. Firstly, in France, most people believe the principle role of companies is not to maximize profit for shareholders but to provide employment for its people. Therefore, once you employ someone, it is almost impossible to remove them unless they try to kill their boss by fire-bombing the offices!
Within my first week in the company, I was approached by at least two union officials, telling me to sign up and alerting me of two possible strike days coming up, although they seemed to have little to grieve about.
I began to realize very quickly that France is like the UK was in the 1970s. Here the unions dominate and the management is terrified of them because on the slightest pretext they will call a strike. I heard a month ago that an entire factory had come out on strike because the vending machine supplying coffee had increased its charge by the equivalent of 10p. Because of this, France is known as the strike capital of the world. One TV channel even has a strike update each morning, like a weather forecast, so you know if you are going to be affected because the train drivers or pharmacies or teachers are out.
Recently, the unions held a boss at 3M hostage until he caved in and agreed to their demands.
And do you know what? This is all considered perfectly normal. The hostage situation barely made the French news, even though it was a headline story around the world.
The French are a militant lot, and when I first arrived I was horrified how often people went on strike. The idea of joining a union made me feel like some Bolshevik student, but now I realize what sense this all makes. The workers are in the majority, so why should we not have some power. Over here, no pushy employer can sack me on a whim, and this ethos makes it very clear to all, including your employers, that we work to live, not the other way around.
So, if times are hard in the UK, maybe you should consider Paris. Although jobs are equally scarce, at least when you get one, you are unlikely to lose it quickly.
Just make sure you check the strike report before you arrive. It is an awfully long walk to Paris from Charles de Gaulle airport when the trains and taxi drivers are out because they do not like the brand of cola in their vending machine.
