Who's Striking Today

In France strikes are a regular thing. Sometimes causing misery but mostly it’s a focused group of raucous people chanting in front of some administration building making their claim for more money or more time off. What may seem unusual to an American is the regular participation of healthcare workers in strikes

This past month we’ve seen a variation on the theme as nurse anesthetists wearing full operating room garb sat on the railway tracks just outside the Gare Montparnasse, blocking all the trains headed west from Paris or into the city from Brittany. Their complaint was over proposed changes to the retirement age, from age 60 to 61 or 62. The vague proposal was part of President Sarkozy’s response to the need for fiscal belt-tightening.

Generalist physician announced their intent to close their offices on June 18 to “educate the local elected officials” about their need to raise their consultation fee from 22 to 23 euros. “We will not wait any longer,” said the secretary general of the Medecins Generalistes-France, Vincent Rebeille-Borgella.

Doctors going on strike is virtually unheard of in the United States and it is generally illegal with a few exceptions. But in France it is something of a tradition. For example, in January 2020 there was the “Day Without Doctors” where three-quarters of all office based physicians stayed home.