11.18.05
Strikes!
One of the stranger parts about living in Italy is work strikes. They’re very common here. There is hardly an area of life that isn’t effected in some way by strikes. Transportation strikes effect us the most. When traveling we always check to see if there is a train strike that day. Bus strikes mean a lot of walking for us. Usually the strikes last only 24 hours and, fortunately, there are laws that state that even when there is a strike, certain busses and trains have to run. For example, the busses that run during the times when kids are going to and from school. So if you time it right, you won’t even notice that there’s anything going on. Except that there are about five times the people on board! I’ve been told many times that the purpose of these strikes isn’t to inconvenience an entire city, but to cause the company to lose money. In practice, I don’t see much difference.
But I was surprised to learn of a new kind of strike today. I went to the newsstand by our house to buy my favorite newspaper. On Fridays it comes with a special magazine that I really like. Today, however, the lady told me that there wasn’t a magazine today because they went on strike. Why a magazine company would strike is beyond me. They could want higher wages, better hours, or just a three-day weekend. Beats me.