French Strike against economy

French Strike
against economy

1 February 2009
Wall Street Journal

French unions are worried that the faltering economy will lead to massive job cuts. So naturally they organized a general strike yesterday that could cost the economy a few hundred million euros in lost working hours. Nobody has ever accused the union bosses of clear thinking.
"Black Thursday" is the first sign of political trouble in a major European economy as a result of the economic crisis. More than one million people protested against President Nicolas Sarkozy's economic management. As always, France's public-sector employees were particularly eager to strike -- 23% of them didn't show up for work

Apart from the professional strikers among France's radical unions, many French people are genuinely scared of losing their jobs. Unemployment, just under 8% now, could top 10% by next year. About 70% of the public support the strikes. The problem is that the left is fueling these understandable fears to advance its political agenda, which would only make things worse.
The opposition Socialist Party called for the government to revoke tax cuts of up to €15 billion implemented in 2007, right after Mr. Sarkozy's election, and to spend that money on pump-priming the economy. The unions demand that the government halt precrisis plans to phase out 30,000 jobs in France's bloated public sector. But government debt is already on the rise as a result of the recession, multibillion-euro banking bailouts and stimulus plans. Urging the state to waste more money on superfluous pencil pushers is no boost for the economy.
The unions also want better job protection and a repeal of legislation that relaxed rules on the 35-hour workweek. But this would only increase production costs for French companies, forcing more layoffs. Unemployment would worsen.

Trouble is also flaring up elsewhere in Europe. Iceland's government had to resign Monday after weeks of protests. The economic crisis has triggered antigovernment protests in Bulgaria, Latvia and Lithuania. Several countries face general elections later this year, including Slovakia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Germany, Europe's biggest economy.

These campaigns will take place amid the worst recession in decades. The challenge for mainstream parties will be to prevent social unrest while stopping radicals from gaining at the polls. As tempting as it might be, pandering to the left can only backfire.