Reuters is reporting that all eight of France’s union federations collaborated for the first time to organize strikes and rallies around the country. Some of the demonstrations ended in violence, One protester is quoted:

“The government has taken measures for banks but today it is the workers who are suffering… This crisis comes from the United States, it’s the financial bubble that is bursting. It’s not for the workers to pay for that.”

It’s only January, and 2009 is already shaping up to be a gruesome year for unemployment. Our tax dollars are being used to bailout industries, while the average worker walks a tightrope of instability—will there be any safety nets, any bailout money for regular laid off wage-earners to subsist on, when their severence and unemployment benefits run dry? The stress of joblessness has already forced some people to become violent and unstable. How long before Americans take to the streets in protest?