"For the unions, Nicholas Sarkozy didn't say anything concrete"

That's the headline of the lead story at LeMonde.fr today, after Sarkozy's talked with journalists live on French TV for over 90 minutes last night. That's not good news: if the unions weren't satisfied with Sarkozy's plan for economic recovery, they were planning to stage a nation-wide strike. It now seems likely that the strike will happen.

Some things Sarko said that didn't go down well? When asked about the EDVIGE scandal (a June 2008 reform that allows the police to k eep huge amounts of info on private citizens), Sarkozy said he had read about those problems "in the papers". Rather than cut taxes or help citizens improve their spending power, Sarkozy said he'd rather re-invest in the national economy. One journalist asked if, like Barack Obama, Sarkozy would limit salaries for corporations who received government aid; Sarko said he wasn't ready to create a "general rule." He also wants to lower taxes for French businesses in order to fight délocalisation, or outsourcing.

Not what the French people wanted to hear.

Why is all this important? French purchasing power has slipped, more people are losing their homes, and unemployment is rising: in August 2008, the rate was eight percent; now it's thought to be closer to ten percent (or nearly 7 million people out of work).

Closer to my heart, university strikes are continuing. Yesterday students from La Fac held a big demonstration in Marseille that made national news. In the morning, I got up early to arrive on time for my 9 a.m. class, and to my surprise, the professor showed up! Unfortunately, she only wanted to tell us that she, too, was striking and that we should come back again next Thursday. Amazingly, my afternoon class did take place. The professor told us that, although she supports the strike, she's against the blocage and disruption that canceling classes causes.

You might think I'm lucky to be missing class. But the risk is that, if strikes last too long, Michigan won't be able to give us transfer credit for the classes we take here. And if that happens, I too will be joining the picket lines.