empty parking lot and quiet halls

Most people who have spent a little time in France have experienced la grève in one form or another. When I was studying abroad, the university students went on strike. In my travels, I've experienced strikes of postal employees, garbage collectors and baggage handlers and public transportation (oh, what would it have been like if I'd made it to EuroDisney on opening day as I had planned?). Mom and Mickey narrowly escaped the flight attendants' strike on Air France last month. But today, well, today was different. Today, a large percentage of French teachers went on strike, joining forces with postal workers, air traffic controllers and hospital staff over planned job cuts and demands for higher wages. Add this to the transportation strike that's been going on for seven days, and France is quite paralyzed.

As a Fulbright exchange teacher, I am not allowed to strike with my French colleagues. Je suis neutre. So, although I anticipated very poor attendance in my classes today, I still had to go to work. As I approached the school, I noticed that the parking lot was nearly empty. The schoolyard was eerily silent. Because the strike was announced, most of the kids stayed home. Still, there were a few people there: teachers who aren't part of a union, or teachers who simply can't afford to miss a day's pay. Ironic really, since they're demanding a pay increase. According to the Ministry of Education, 40% of teachers walked out today, but union officials said the figure was closer to 60%. I learned from one of the striking teachers who stopped by for coffee during the morning break that the percentage is based upon the number of teachers absent from the first class in the morning and the first in the afternoon. Since he doesn't have class during either of those periods, he's not included in the statistics - and he's the union representative in the school!

In all, there were around eight teachers (out of 30-something), and we had less than 40 students come to school. Many only came for the classes where they knew the teacher was present, and others left early. Three of my boys came just for English, and ended up spending another hour with me in the computer lab rather than going back home.