France-tastic

The government of Dominique de Villepin recently introduced the CPE - the contrat de première embauche, basically a contract for young people starting their first job, giving them less job security and less rights, but supposedly encouraging employers to give them a chance, and countering the chronic unemployment here in France, which especially affects young people, since usually employment is extrememly permanent here - once you have a position, it is very hard for the employer to get rid of you, leading to employers being unwilling to give an untried person a chance, because if you turn out to be shit, they are stuck with you anyway.

As one might guess, the young french militants are very much against the CPE, and as a result, the whole university is closed down for the grève, the strike. This means that the last two days, I've had to wait in the rain before some pimply brat with unwashed hair demanded who I was and what I was doing there (using "tu" to me, the nerve!), before begrudgingly letting me through the doors. According to the unions, it is only students and administrative staff on strike, not researchers like me, and especially not foreign researchers who really have nothing to do with any damn contracts or french politics!

The blockade.


Some of the crowd half protesting, half trying to get in.


But it is not so bad, it has meant a few short days at least, and the labs are pretty quiet (though the boss has returned today), and at least today it wasn't raining as I waited for the usual interrogation.

One of the professors here had a stroke of brilliance yesterday! He works quite hard, and fed up with idiots who don't even know that there is such as thing as a research department hindering him getting to work on time, he filled up an old shampoo bottle with water, and squirted the protestors in the faces after they finally let him in! He is about 40, and was so pleased with himself afterwards! I wish I could have been there to see that! However, he is not here today, so perhaps they got him back this morning...