Stardate 20011112.0919 (On Screen): Union workers in France, disgruntled because their company went out of business, have rigged their former place of employment with makeshift explosives and are threatening to destroy it unless they are given a better severance package. At the best of times this would have been extremely ill-advised; but with a war going on against terrorists this was foolhardy to the point of idiocy. The French government
should treat this as it is: armed revolt. The French unions
should condemn this forthrightly. But I don't think they will.
(discuss)France has a long history of kowtowing to its unions; the result of this has been to create an environment so hostile to business as to cripple France's economy. When I was in high school, the Franc was valued at 80% of the Mark; now it's less than 30%.
