Now La Poste Is On Strike

We needed to do some business at the post office (La Poste) this morning. We arrived, mid-morning and the doors were open but the lights were out. There was a line, so except for the lights, everything seemed normal.

Standing in line, trying to figure out why the lights were off, it suddenly dawned on me that I'd read something about La Poste going on strike.

In the US, there is a small movement to leave lights off, or dim, in public places. Before we left, on my semi-annual shopping (pre-Paris), our local Nordstrom was almost pitch black in the middle of the day. When I asked, the clerk said that it was an attempt to be more "green". I am skeptical about this answer.

Everyone at La Poste was waiting patiently in the dark. There was one clerk, but she was working on the customer's side of the guichet. When we got to the front of the line, she politely explained that she couldn't help us with anything that required money. If we wanted to buy something, we had to use the machine installed in the wall. But, she did help us to understand that our outbound mail would be delayed, perhaps for a long time. The computers weren't on, the mailman wouldn't be coming by today to pick up the mail or drop any off. What normally takes 5-7 days might take twice this long, since even if the workers come back from the strike, there will be an accumulation of mail...

I haven't done a lot of research about the postal workers' issues, but from what I see, they are protesting against privatisation. But, the French government denies that plans are in the works to make La Poste partially or completely private.

While we rely less and less on postal services, both in the US and in France, there are some things that seem better if they come by mail. Birthday cards are much better when they are waiting in your mailbox, pretty envelope and personally written. Bills are nice to get in the mail. You don't forget a piece of paper as easily as a little notice in the email.

But don't the postal workers know that if a strike continues, we could get used to being without them and they will all be out of jobs, whether they are a public or a private entity.