The 2009 French Caribbean general strikes began in the French overseas region of Guadeloupe on 20 January 2009, and spread to neighbouring Martinique on 5 February 2009. Both islands are located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean. The general strikes began over the cost of living, the prices of basic commodities, including fuel and food, and demands for an increase in the monthly salaries of low income workers. Stores and gas stations in the private sector, and public sector services including education, public transportation, and sanitation, were temporarily closed in Guadeloupe and Martinique due to the strikes. The strikes ended when the French government agreed to raise the salaries of the lowest paid by €200 and acceded to the strikers' top 20 demands.
The strikes exposed deep ethnic, racial, and class tensions and disparities within Guadeloupe and Martinique and devastated the tourism industry of both islands during the high season. The islands were believed to have lost millions of dollars in tourism revenue due to cancelled vacations and closed hotels. Guadeloupe and Martinique had the second and third highest unemployment rates in the European Union as of 2007, according to Eurostat.
Read more about 2009 French Caribbean General Strikes: Background of The Strikes, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Government Reaction, Ending The Strikes: The Jacques Bino Accord, Other French Protests
Famous quotes containing the words french, caribbean, general and/or strikes:
“In comparison to the French Revolution, the American Revolution has come to seem a parochial and rather dull event. This, despite the fact that the American Revolution was successful—realizing the purposes of the revolutionaries and establishing a durable political regime—while the French Revolution was a resounding failure, devouring its own children and leading to an imperial despotism, followed by an eventual restoration of the monarchy.”
—Irving Kristol (b. 1920)
“But now Miss America, World’s champion woman, you take your promenading self down into the cobalt blue waters of the Caribbean and see what happens. You meet a lot of darkish men who make vociferous love to you, but otherwise pay you no mid.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“To judge from a single conversation, he made the impression of a narrow and very English mind; of one who paid for his rare elevation by general tameness and conformity. Off his own beat, his opinions were of no value.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“What strikes many twin researchers now is not how much identical twins are alike, but rather how different they are, given the same genetic makeup....Multiples don’t walk around in lockstep, talking in unison, thinking identical thoughts. The bond for normal twins, whether they are identical or fraternal, is based on how they, as individuals who are keenly aware of the differences between them, learn to relate to one another.”
—Pamela Patrick Novotny (20th century)