Things get lost in translation, ones ears are not as attuned to the foreign language, a speaker mumbles, different cultures speak at different volumes. It is not unusual to ask someone to repeat something. The following account is something I heard loud and clear. It was not lost in translation for lack of audio comprehension. I was unable to comprehend what I heard for the lack of logic driving the issue.
My thoughts upon here this issue were, “Certainly this is impossible. How can people make such assumptions and presumptions?”, but here in New Caledonia certain individuals feel this makes perfect sense?
The unions in France are very strong. Anyone who pays attention to French news sees the annual strikes which seem to grind the country to a halt with a certain amount of regularity. Next transport yourself thousands of miles/kilometers away and you will find yourself in the New Caledonia. Here we are France, or as I like to think France when they want to be. So guess what we have with even greater regularity… strikes! The garbage men strike not for higher salary (of course), but for further respect, i.e higher salary. I always make sure to say hello to the garbagemen, to make sure they feel they have the appropriate amount of respect they are due. The Pizza workers strike. Do your Domino’s delivery guys strike, because the equivalent here do.
Unions are even stronger here than in Metropol France. The government seems to kowtow to them for fear of having a repeat of the social unrest from the 1980s. Until the referendum in 2014 they do not want to be too heavy handed. For more information see Winkpedia.
What is unique about striking here in New Caledonia is the amount of time, energy, duration of which the strikes last. In France metropol – a few weeks is normal. Here a few months is normal. People camp out, they build structures, sleep there, decorate for Christmas. People have been known to strike for years. The business simply closes, the owners file for bankruptcy, life goes on, but the strikers remain.
Solidarity is another strong issue here. It follows the lines of race, union, and island affiliation. The unions themselves are not racially divided. If someone from Wallace and Fatuna (an even smaller French island nation -comprising two islands east of here) has a problem and wants to strike there have been numerous instances where everyone from the island goes on strike with them. There are a lot of people from Wallace and Fatuna here (more than on the islands themselves) and this makes for a certain amount of unrest I have been told.
The most recent strike involves the local city bus drivers, and like many strikes has been going on for over a month- I honestly lost track of time when it began. I shall give you a little historical background to help understand where we are today. The buses are privately managed and owned, but receive support from the government. Over a year ago a bus driver was caught steeling money from his employer. He said he “borrowed” the money under the auspices that he needed it and would return it. After lengthy negotiations with his union (USTKE) he was given a year’s salary, plus a bonus equivalent to tens of thousands of dollars and was asked to leave his job. One year passes, his salary is over, and said gentlemen want his job back. When the employer says no, his fellow workers rally for him to be able to return. Eventually a strike ensues, soon after the garbage men are on strike in solidarity. Last weekend this strike erupted in violence where the police officers were attached and thirty arrests were made, this all in the defense of someone who stole money.
This is where things get really interesting or entertaining. The union’s defense of the actions was the following. The newspaper reported that the union leader said it wasn’t fair that the men caught were arrested as the police didn’t give them enough time to run. Since they have jobs, families, and homes they must be upstanding citizens (who accidentally were throwing rocks and attacking police). They employer is depriving this man of his right to work. One person told a reporter for the local news that is normal to take money from your employer, apparently “everyone does it”.
So people are striking in order for someone who stole money from his employer to get his job back. Let me remind you for the Americans especially, people here work 35 hours a week, get 5 weeks vacation and receive full healthcare. The bus drivers make a living wage here. What is so hard about all this?
I heard this on the news, read this in the paper, and heard people speaking about it, but truly I did not understand it.
If you want to read more about this issue in French go to www.lnc.nc. If you want to read an English translation Google Les Nouvelles, Nouméa and click on the English translation option. It is not 100% accurate, but one may obtain an general understanding.
A note about safety: the violence happened in the industrial zone near the nickel refinery. A place we do not go to, so we were never in danger.
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