The spring of chairs!

I've been working at the University since september last year. The other morning, I was confronted by a huge pile of chairs in the reception area. At first I wondered if they were repainting classrooms, however the haphazard pile suggested something else. Was this, then, some form of modern art? As I passed classrooms I realised that all the furniture had been removed. A fellow teacher informed me that it was the 'Printemps des chaises'(The spring of chairs)! Now, I have been in France for 8 years and I am married to a French woman, but I have never heard of this particluar celebration. I asked my colleague to explain. The emptying of classrooms and piling up of chairs, is a student protest at proposed government reforms called the 'Printemps des chaises'.
The French government wants to reform the education system in France. I shan't go in to details here as I am sure to get things wrong. Suffice to say the teaching unions are opposed, and they are supported by the students. The removing of furniture is designed, therefore to disrupt teaching. Unfortunately, the furniture in the lecture theatres, where most French teaching takes place, is fixed in place. The protest is therefore symbolic.
The big test will come this Thursday the 19th March, when a general strike has been called. Once again, we will see whether there is massive support, or whether as the President has said nobody notices when there is a strike.