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Labor protests raise doubts over France’s EU vote

By John Thornhill

Paris, France, Feb. 7 -- The French government said yesterday it would not retreat from its determination to loosen the 35-hour working week, in spite of mass opposition in 118 protest marches across the country on Saturday.

But some officials expressed concern that the fierce fight to extend the length of the working week could galvanize many members of the left into rejecting Europe’s constitutional treaty when it is put to a national referendum, before the summer.

The government’s concerns were heightened last week when the “parliament” of the CGT trade union, one of France’s biggest, voted against the European constitution, claiming it was too “liberal.”

Saturday’s marches, which attracted 321,000-600,000 protesters according to different counts, were led by some of France’s biggest trade unions as part of their fight to preserve the statutory 35-working week. This reduction in hours has been hailed by the left as the greatest achievement of the previous Socialist government.

Jean-François Copé, government spokesman, said the government had no intention of withdrawing a law that gave workers greater liberties. The draft law, allowing employees to work longer hours so long as they reached a collective accord with their employers, would be further debated in the lower house of parliament today.

The government commands a clear majority in parliament and is expected to carry its draft law, which it argues is essential to render the eurozone’s second biggest economy more competitive. A recent report by Michel Camdessus, former IMF head, concluded that the chief reason for the economy’s performance was its “work deficit.”

Many CGT members on Saturday’s march in Paris carried placards rejecting the government’s vision of Europe and calling for stronger workers’ rights. “It is impossible for a member country to revise this constitution, so I am going to vote against it,” said Raphael Darmon, sporting CGT and anti-constitution stickers as he demonstrated in Place de la Nation. “France has never adopted a constitution in the past that it cannot revise.”

Patrick Devedjian, industry minister, said a “coagulation of discontents” among the left was a “worry” when considering the referendum. And he appealed to François Hollande, leader of the Socialist party, which has already held an internal vote in favor of the constitution, not to play with fire in supporting the mass protests.

Devedjian’s fears appeared to be reinforced by an opinion poll yesterday in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper showing that 46 per cent of voters remained undecided on the constitution. The main reasons for rejecting the treaty, among respondents intending to vote No, were listed as concern about Europe becoming “too liberal,” the general social and economic situation in France, and opposition to opening accession talks with Turkey.

Source: Financial Times (UK)