I’m not a big fan of unions, at least in the U.S.  But I thought the Prague transit strike today was a good thing in a way.  Why?

I can’t imagine that before 1989 any such strike would occur. Or, if it did, that there would be severe reprisals by the police and who knows else in the government.  Including violence and long term damage to the lives of the organizers.

So, to see a peaceful gathering of strikers today, with the police lingering in the back dressed in ordinary uniforms, said volumes about the freedom of speech that the Czech Republic now enjoys.  The right to assemble & demonstrate, regardless of the merits of your position, is a huge element of any open and democratic society.

March on, Czech colleagues.