Sarkozy Part II: the first strike

As an update to today's earlier post, I mentioned that the real test of Sarkozy's rhetoric would come with a showdown with the unions. And of course, here is the first strike announcment, from the IHT.

"President Nicolas Sarkozy will face his first strike after five of the eight railroad unions in France called for a day of protests on Oct. 18, vowing to defend their members' right to retire at age 50."

Interestingly enough, the article notes that

"[t]he unions, however, seem to have been shaken by Sarkozy's determination. Unlike the situation in 1995 and 2003, public opinion is firmly opposed to public sector pension privileges."

October will be interesting.