Union declares ‘war’ on Macron over reforms
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, faces a union showdown after he unveiled ambitious labour reforms yesterday and asked the “impatient” French not to judge him after 100 days in office. The hardline union, CGT, criticised the planned reforms as a “declaration of war”.
EMMANUEL MACRON, the French president, faces a union showdown after he unveiled ambitious labour reforms yesterday and asked the “impatient” French not to judge him after only 100 days in office.
France’s hardline union, CGT, criticised the reforms, designed to loosen the labour market, as a “declaration of war” that meant “the end of the work contract”.
It called for street protests on Sept 12 from “workers, pensioners and the young”, along with the smaller CFECGC
‘France is the only major economy of the European Union that has not beaten mass unemployment.’
union. The broadside came minutes after Mr Macron’s government outlined an overhaul of France’s draconian labour code in what has been dubbed a “make or break” moment three months into the president’s fiveyear mandate.
In a blow to Mr Macron, while the CGT opposition was expected, the moderate CFDT union was also surprisingly negative, calling the reform “disappointing” and aspects of it “dogmatic”. With France’s mainstream Left and Right in tatters, political opposition to the reform is being led by the radical France Unbowed of leftist firebrand Jean-luc Mélenchon, which is planning a march in Paris on Sept 23.
With his popularity nosediving, Mr Macron pledged to drive through the changes by executive order, or decree, and not bow to inevitable street demonstrations.
By acting fast, he hopes to avoid a repeat of the months-long, sometimes violent protests unleashed by labour reforms pushed through last year by François Hollande, his predecessor.
France’s labour code is a collection of laws setting out workers’ rights spanning more than 3,000 pages, some dating back over a century.
With the French jobless rate currently at 9.5 per cent of the active population, Mr Macron said yesterday: “France is the only major economy of the European Union that has not beaten mass unemployment.” Overly protective workers’ rights scare companies from taking on new workers, while a more flexible labour market will “free up” the economy, he said.
Unveiling the reform, Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, said there were “differences of opinion” with unions but said these were “nuanced”.
The reform, giving employers more freedom over industry-wide collective agreements, will be signed by executive order and put in force by the “end of September”, said Mr Philippe.