Just over a year ago, similar strikes prefaced the general mobilization of social protest that paralyzed France for much of December 1995. While protest last year pertained to reform of the social security system, this year it concerns changes in the civil service and public sector. Civil servants are angry about a freeze of their salaries and reduction of nearly 6,000 jobs among their ranks. Teachers complain about budget restraints and cuts of tenured posts. Defense sector employees fear for their jobs after the privatization of the electronics company Thomson.
Doctors criticize the reduction of their income and caps on the rise of medical costs.
Pointing to last year as an example, some syndical leaders are now urging a general mobilization of social protest in the remainder of 1996. Like most other EU member states, France does not yet meet Maastricht's convergence criteria. Nevertheless, President Jacques Chirac is determined to engage France in EMU on schedule. Success of the Single Currency would have both political and economic payoffs. It would bind Germany closer to France and the other countries in Europe, thus achieving a prime French foreign policy objective.