"Undermining my electoral viability since 2001."

Oh Why Not; One More

I found this Kos diary from France completely fascinating:

With the ongoing strike in New York, and the vigorous debate this has sparked, I thought I'd tell you a bit about mass transit strikes in France and how they are tolerated.

The short version is that they are well tolerated, and even supported, because railway and subway workers are seen as fighting on behalf of more vulnerable workers in other sectors of the industry who cannot strike themselves.

Read the whole thing; it learned me a few facts about France I was unaware of, and it's very interesting in light of Christna's comment below:

If the TWU successfully negotiates this pro workforce contract, then the rest of the unions have a new model and a new set of standards to negotiate their contracts by. Think about what this can mean for the teachers who, in some states, have pension plans that are as low as 35% of their mean salary from the final three years of their careers.

If this does work out as a victory for the TWU, it could be the sort of thing that helps spark a revival among worker activism, which would be cool, especially if it can be connected to a broader progressive movement. Want that universal health care? It'll take more stuff like this to get it done right.

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