FRANCE: President Nicolas Sarkozy calls for overhaul of labour rules at labour summit in Paris ahead of April-May elections, announces 430 million euros investment in employment

Record ID: 849984

  • Title: FRANCE: President Nicolas Sarkozy calls for overhaul of labour rules at labour summit in Paris ahead of April-May elections, announces 430 million euros investment in employment
  • Date: 19th January 2012
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JANUARY 18, 2012) (REUTERS) JOURNALISTS OUTSIDE ELYSEE PALACE UNION BOSSES ON STEPS OF ELYSEE PALACE VARIOUS OF UNION LEADERS WITH CGT UNION LEADER BERNARD THIBAULT AT ELYSEE (SOUNDBITE) (French) CGT UNION LEADER BERNARD THIBAULT, SAYING: "I have the confirmation that the French President is making the wrong analysis of the situation to justify -- or try and justify -- unemployment figures, that it would be the employees fault who would cost too much. We refuse this argument and we are ready, as we did this morning, to compare on an international and european levels, it is a lie to tell the French that they cost too much and they are the ones responsible for the unemployment and precariousness levels." UNION BOSSES AT ELYSEE PALACE
  • Embargoed: 3rd February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France, France
  • City:
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2WXWEP5298FXBOAKYQ16SA5JV
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged union bosses on Wednesday (January 18, 2012) to work with him on job-friendly labour law reforms at a "crisis social summit" he has called three months from an election.
    The French President announced 430 million euros investment in employment, after pressure on him intensified last week when the ratings agency Standard & Poor's singled out "labour market rigidities" as it downgraded France by one notch to AA+.
    "We have decided to reinforce investment in the employment agencies. Despite the efforts made by the agencies, the increase in the numbers of unemployed people has led us to hire one thousand more employees. That represents half a million euros investment by the state, which will be financed by redeployment, so that we do not increase our country's deficit by a single centime," said Sarkozy in his address to labour unions at the Elysee Palace, just three months before the country's presidential election.
    As the euro debt crisis strips France of its AAA credit rating and is pushing the economy to the brink of recession, Sarkozy is presenting his "crisis social summit" with business and union leaders as a chance to tackle high unemployment.
    "We have decided on a new plan to train those people who are unemployed, and far off gaining employment -- by which I mean, those without qualifications, who have been out of work for at least two years," he added.
    Union bosses attended the meeting but made it clear they were in no mood to be rushed into a pre-election pact even if they were keen to make progress on several fronts such as on-the-job training or measure that cut work time and pay to protect jobs in hard times.
    "We wanted to talk about 15 concrete proposals, on certain proposals we have answers, such as on part-time employment measures, where the state will invest one million euros extra," said Jean-Claude Mailly, head of the Force Ouvriere union.
    "We refuse this argument and we are ready, as we did this morning, to compare on an international and european levels, it is a lie to tell the French that they cost too much and they are the ones responsible for the unemployment and precariousness levels," said CGT union leader Bernard Thibault.
    The unions' reluctance to be rushed into reforms so close to an election weakens the prospect of frank discussion on areas economists consider ripe for reform, ranging from restrictive labour laws to the 35-hour work week and the role unions play in pay negotiations.
    French unemployment is close to a 12-year high as Sarkozy's five-year term nears its end and the statistics offices say the economy is now in what it expected to be a short, shallow recession.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register