{"id":33220,"date":"2016-03-10T09:01:53","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T17:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/french-protest-against-bill-tampering-with-35-hour-work-week\/"},"modified":"2016-03-10T09:01:53","modified_gmt":"2016-03-10T17:01:53","slug":"french-protest-against-bill-tampering-with-35-hour-work-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/french-protest-against-bill-tampering-with-35-hour-work-week\/","title":{"rendered":"French protest against bill tampering with 35-hour work week"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS \u2014 <\/strong>Tens of thousands of people protested across France on Wednesday against President Francois Hollande\u2019s determination to achieve what his conservative predecessor didn\u2019t even dare to try \u2014 tamper with the 35-hour workweek.<\/p>\n

Workers, unemployed and youths joined forces on Wednesday, answering calls from student organizations and unions in more than 200 cities across France to try to kill the bill, which has even divided Hollande\u2019s ruling Socialist party.<\/p>\n

Paris police said between 27,000 and 29,000 protesters took to the streets in the French capital. Various unions quoted by local media put the estimate much higher, between 80,000 and 100,000 on the chilly, rainy day.<\/p>\n

The contested labor reform would amend France\u2019s 35-hour workweek, approved in 2000 by the Socialists and now a cornerstone of the left. The current Socialist government wants adjustments to reduce France\u2019s 10-percent unemployment rate as the shortened workweek was meant to do.<\/p>\n

The proposal technically maintains the 35-hour workweek, but allows companies to organize alternative working times without following industry-wide deals, up to a 48-hour workweek and 12 hours per day. In \u201cexceptional circumstances,\u201d employees could work up to 60 hours a week.<\/p>\n

To allow companies to deal with business booms, one measure would allow employees to work more than 35 hours without being paid overtime. In exchange, they would have more days off later on. Other measures would relax rules on layoffs and working from home and at night.<\/p>\n

The proposals have turned all major employee unions and youth organizations against the government. With next year\u2019s presidential election looming and Hollande\u2019s popularity having reached its nadir, legislation to make it easier for companies to end employment deals is fueling discontent in a country badly hit by the economic downturn.<\/p>\n

Hollande\u2019s predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, had vowed to end France\u2019s 35-hour week, but he never scrapped the policy during his five-year tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis law is even more shocking that it has been drafted by Socialists,\u201d a telecom company employee who asked to be identified only as Manuel, saying he didn\u2019t want to give his full name for fear of reprisals from his bosses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis law is just aiming at making layoffs easier for companies,\u201d he told The Associated Press at a big gathering on Paris\u2019 Place de la Republique.<\/p>\n

Protesters at the Place de la Republique united around slogans such as \u201cLoi El Khomri, Vie pourrie,\u201d which translates as \u201cEl Khomri Law, Rotten Life.\u201d The planned reform is referred as the El Khomri law, after Labor Minister Myriam El Khomri.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s crucial to move forward, especially on the working hours issue,\u201d El Khomri said. \u201cOf course we listen to the people. Of course we listen to the unions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several high schools across France were blocked off by students who set up barricades with garbage cans.<\/p>\n

Outside the Helene Boucher high school, students cheered any mention of how the movement would prevent Hollande and the government from passing the bill.<\/p>\n

Maryanne Gicquel, a spokeswoman for the FIDL student union, described young people\u2019s journey toward a stable job as \u201ca succession of internships and poorly-paid jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we\u2019re being told that it will be easier for companies to lay off workers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Manuel Valls\u2019 government insisted that the bill won\u2019t be withdrawn but discussions continue with union representatives. The bill, initially set to be discussed at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, has been delayed by two weeks amid growing opposition.<\/p>\n

Hollande reiterated his support for the bill after meeting with his ministers at the Elysee Palace on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Martine Aubry \u2014 the former First Secretary of the Socialist Party and architect of the 35-hour week \u2014 described it as \u201cthe preparation of a long-lasting weakening of France, and of course, the left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many protesters agreed with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole thing has one goal: destroying our labor code, while we should all think about new ways of reducing the average working hours,\u201d said Sebastien Marchal, a 36-year-old graphic designer.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Alex Turnbull and Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PARIS \u2014 Tens of thousands of people protested across France on Wednesday against President Francois Hollande\u2019s determination to achieve what his conservative predecessor didn\u2019t even dare to try \u2014 tamper with the 35-hour workweek. Workers, unemployed and youths joined forces on Wednesday, answering calls from student organizations and unions in more than 200 cities across […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":33221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-33220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-nation-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33220"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=33220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}