French President Sarkozy: Ovations in the U.S. Congress, strikes at home

“Freedom fries” forgotten, the combined House and Senate gave Nicolas Sarkozy a number of standing ovations during his speech to them, delivered in French Nov. 7.

Freedom fries was the name the Congressional cafeteria gave to french fries after France refused to back the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

It wasn’t just his praise of Elvis Presley, U.S. culture of the 1950s and the supposed U.S. virtues of merit pay, hard work and equal opportunity for the children of immigrants like himself (his father came to France from Hungary) that drew the ovations.

Sarkozy vowed to back the U.S. stand on Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. He won’t move French troops from Kabul to the eastern and southern parts of that country, where the fighting is heavier and the risks of French casualties are consequently greater.

But he got one of his 12 standing ovations when he said: “As for me, failure [in Afghanistan] is not an option. Terrorism will not win because democracies are not weak, because we are not afraid of this barbarism. America can count on France.”

On Iran’s nuclear program, he told the Congress, to rousing applause, that “the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable to France.”

He feels that “the major danger in Pakistan is nuclear weapons falling into the hands of extremists one day.”

Sarkozy has even publicly admitted that France is contemplating returning to NATO’s military command structure, which it left in 1966 under Charles de Gaulle.

While Sarkozy certainly feels that it is in France’s long-term interests to mend its relations with the U.S., he avoided even mentioning the word “Iraq” in his speech. At a later press conference, he said France wanted only to see “a united Iraq. It is in no one’s interest to see Iraq dismantled. We want a democratic Iraq.”

Bush didn’t push him on the issue, since international allies of significant heft have been scarce to find after Tony Blair departed from power in Britain five months ago. He went so far as to put on a skit during the state dinner in which an actor playing the Marquis de Lafayette addressed another actor playing George Washington, in French. It was Bush’s lame attempt at showing the long history of French-U.S. relations.

Sarkozy tried very hard to not get too close to Bush, who remains deeply unpopular in France and indeed throughout Europe. In his speech, he made it clear he was addressing the people of the U.S., “the people of the greatest nation of the world.” He also made a 15-minute telephone call to Hillary Clinton, covering all his bases.

Politically, he kept some distance by criticizing the U.S. for its “weak currency” and for its “lack of leadership” on the issue of climate control. The weak dollar makes it harder for France’s exports in particular and Europe’s in general, and adds an aura of uncertainty to the world’s economy.

While Sarkozy wanted to strengthen the diplomatic ties between his country and the U.S., he was obviously hoping that a successful visit would strengthen his domestic position and polish his image.

Sarkozy was elected on a platform of “reforming France,” removing the gains that French workers have won with decades of struggle and replacing them with working conditions common in the U.S. French workers have a constitutional right to strike and to take four weeks vacation. A majority have a legally enforceable right to their job. Eighty-five percent of French workers are retired with a full pension by 55 and some workers, like train crews and crews on fishing trawlers, have the right to retire with a full pension at age 50. College education is essentially free, except for some fees. Low-cost health care is the norm.

His trip didn’t move the unions away from their plans to strike in opposition to his pension reform. They know what U.S.-style pensions and working conditions are like. Almost all the railroad unions and the subway unions in Paris have announced they will strike Nov. 14, and they intend to stay out for a while. Many civil service workers and teachers will also walk.

The national student union met Nov. 11 and formulated a plan to blockade all college campuses and railroad stations. A series of mass meetings have been set for Nov. 12 at which students will vote on whether or not to strike. Right-wing groups are mobilizing, but so is the left, and the outcome is uncertain.

Whatever the students do, the workers are going to put all the pressure they can on Sarkozy’s government. After the success of their strike in mid-October, both sides are going to be looking at the turnout for this one. The week after his “successes” in the U.S. promises to be a week of heightened class struggle in France.