Strike Comme Ça, S'il Vous Plait

Why can't strikes here be like French strikes? They're going to have a TV strike, but it's been announced well in advance and is only lasting one day.

I'd rather that sort of strike than the sort I fear we're about to have. The sort where I look at my pile of old shoes and think, "Which of these will be the most edible if I boil them long enough to kill all the germs?"