Macron reforms

French left stages street showdown

PARIS: Tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied to a call Saturday by firebrand leftist politician Jean-Luc Melenchon to join a protest in Paris against President Emmanuel Macron's sweeping reforms of the labour code, reports AFP.
Melenchon was leading the march through the streets of the French capital on a bright sunny afternoon, with the crowd shouting "resistance, resitance" and no to "a social coup d'etat".
It marks the third in a series of nationwide protests comes a day after Macron signed his landmark reforms into law using a fast-tracked procedure that avoided a lengthy parliamentary debate.
The changes to the labour code, which runs to around 3,400 pages in some editions, give small businesses more flexibility to negotiate pay and conditions with their staff, instead of being bound by national agreements.
They also make it easier to lay off employees and cap compensation awards for unfair dismissal while also giving higher payouts to workers made redundant.
Macron argues the changes -- the cornerstone of his programme aimed at boosting entrepreneurship -- will help bring down stubbornly high unemployment of 9.6 percent.

 

Macron reforms

French left stages street showdown

PARIS: Tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied to a call Saturday by firebrand leftist politician Jean-Luc Melenchon to join a protest in Paris against President Emmanuel Macrons sweeping reforms of the labour code, reports AFP. Melenchon was leading the march through the streets of the French capital on a bright sunny afternoon, with the crowd shouting resistance, resitance and no to a social coup detat. It marks the third in a series of nationwide protests comes a day after Macron signed his landmark reforms into law using a fast-tracked procedure that avoided a lengthy parliamentary debate. The changes to the labour code, which runs to around 3,400 pages in some editions, give small businesses more flexibility to negotiate pay and conditions with their staff, instead of being bound by national agreements. They also make it easier to lay off employees and cap compensation awards for unfair dismissal while also giving higher payouts to workers made redundant. Macron argues the changes -- the cornerstone of his programme aimed at boosting entrepreneurship -- will help bring down stubbornly high unemployment of 9.6 percent.