EUROPE: Strikes There, Too

¶ Gravediggers went on strike at Barrow-in-Furness, England. They complained they were being "worked to death."

¶ Dentists went on strike in Surrey, Sussex, Kent and Hampshire. They wanted higher health-insurance payments (from $25.50 to $42) for installing false teeth.

¶ Black-marketeers went on strike in Rome. They were indignant over a police raid, denounced it as "villainous persecution and restraint of trade."

¶ Civil servants went on strike in France. Two million strong, they walked out one day between 4 and 6 p.m., halted subways and busses, stopped tobacco sales, isolated the Foreign Office and otherwise brought bureaucracy to a standstill. They wanted a monthly pay raise of 1,000 francs ($20). Hurriedly Big Bureaucrats drafted wage increases for Little Bureaucrats.

¶ A robot went on strike in Paris. This civil servant, a machine that tells the time over the telephone, did not ask for more; it simply got stuck. Over & over it told Parisians that the time was 9:04 a.m., thereby made many late for work.