Anti-labour reform protests in France a challenge for Macron
FRENCH unions launched a day of strikes and protests yesterday against Emmanuel Macron’s flagship labour reforms, a key test as he stakes his presidency on overhauling the sluggish economy.
Several thousand people joined protests in cities around the country against the reforms, which are intended to tackle stubbornly high unemployment by loosening the rules that govern how businesses hire and fire staff.
About 4 000 strikes and 180 protests have been called by France’s biggest trade union, the CGT, with rail workers, students and civil servants urged to protest.
The turnout will serve as a yardstick for unions’ ability to mobilise, as deep splits have emerged in the labour movement between those determined to fight the reforms and those prepared to compromise.
“What is going to be a surprise is when he ends up giving ground,” far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said as he joined a protest in the southern port of Marseille.
“This country doesn’t want the liberal world. “France isn’t Britain.” At lunchtime, crowds of a few thousand were reported in the cities of Nice, Marseille, Saint Nazaire and Caen, with a larger rally planned in Paris later in the afternoon.
The business-friendly Macron wants to make France a more attractive place for French companies and foreign investors, who have long complained about restrictive labour laws and the power of trade unions. The disruption to rail networks and air traffic control was limited midway through the day, while a separate protest movement by fairground operators, angered over threats to their business, caused traffic jams in Paris.
Macron has vowed to press ahead with the reforms, but he sparked a backlash last week by describing opponents of the shake-up as slackers and cynics.
Bruno Cautres, of the Cevipof political research institute, said Macron had added fuel to the fire with his choice of words.
“With the slackers’ comment, there are all the ingredients for this to heat up,” he said.
Protesters seized on the remark yesterday, with some in the northern city of Caen shouting, “Macron you’re screwed, the slackers are in the street.”