Comments on: Happy May Day

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 07:22:04 +0000

Hi Prudence,

Thanks for dropping in and leaving a nice comment.

Paris is a great place to live, feel free to browse the archives and the list of links in the sidebar to find other English speakers living in or near Paris who have tons of information on their sites.

-Fruey

By: Prudence

Prudence — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 20:47:57 +0000

I came across your site as I am thinking of moving to Paris and came across your interesting article. To further confuse things my counterparts in the US did have Monday May 1st off as did we in UK and in France. Can’t remember why but New York celebrates with a day off for something around the May 1st.

By: Simon

Simon — Tue, 16 May 2006 12:46:37 +0000

Hi Aidan,

Yeah well you’re right that there’s no need for an excuse to march against government policies, and for some it’s a hobby.

France is very similar. You could almost say that the national pastime is marching combined with striking.

-Fruey

By: Aidan

Aidan — Tue, 16 May 2006 01:39:27 +0000

‘It’s a day where the unions traditionally march in protest of the latest government policies.’

Yes… In the UK we tend to call those ‘days-ending-in-the-letter-Y’…

Sorry…

By: Marinade Dave

Marinade Dave — Mon, 08 May 2006 19:06:06 +0000

Thanks for that bit of info, Fruey. My father, quite the conservative and FOX News fanatic, has maintained that opinion for a long time. I don’t have much respect for couch political pundits who only believe what FOX and Rush Limbaugh preach. How come people who have never been to France know more about it than actual people who live there?

By: Simon

Simon — Sat, 06 May 2006 11:30:31 +0000

Dave

It’s not true that you can’t get fired. What is difficult, however, is justifying the dismissal. Suing for wrongful dismissal is very easy, and if you are to be sacked the company has to have a very solid defence with written records on your performance and recorded warnings, etc.

-Fruey

By: Marinade Dave

Marinade Dave — Fri, 05 May 2006 18:20:59 +0000

I think the core of the issue stems from our free market society. Americans don’t want an awful lot of social handout programs. It raises taxes. If you want something, work for it. This is the land of opportunity. Same thing with unions. They demand a lot from companies and that causes prices to go up. Americans don’t want to pay high prices. Besides, it prices us out of the market. Look what foreign auto manufacturers have done to GM, for example. Labor is cheaper elsewhere. In any event, unions have their time and place and they’re not as popular as they once were.

Isn’t it true no one can get fired from their job in France?

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 05 May 2006 08:44:09 +0000

The US really does go a long way to suppress socialist sentiment – probably the underlying reason as to why they misunderstand the French so much.

Trade unions did so much to improve the lot of the manual labourer, especially in the US, so it’s a delicious irony that they are now tarred with the same brush as extreme régimes like the Soviet or Chinese governments.

-Fruey

By: Marinade Dave

Marinade Dave — Thu, 04 May 2006 21:19:41 +0000

The “Red Scare” from 1917 to 1920 ended all celebration of May Day because of anti-socialist and communist sentiment, in spite of the fact that it did originate here, in Chicago, in 1886, during the Haymarket Riot.

Labor Day today is just a celebration for ALL workers. Government employees and banks get the day off, as do schools, but that’s about it. It’s pretty much just another day to me.

By: Simon

Simon — Thu, 04 May 2006 16:18:40 +0000

I’ve updated the article… so it’s not a holiday .

That’s a shame really, considering how it all started in the US and in Europe a number of countries have the day off.

Thanks for pointing that out Dave!

-Fruey