In France, workers aren’t the only ones who take to the streets to protest their bosses do, too.
Several thousand French business owners, particularly from small companies, demonstrated on Monday in Paris to plead with the government to simplify regulations and make it easier and cheaper to hire.
The protests in Paris and the south-western city of Toulouse are the first in a week of demonstrations organised by employer groups before the December 10 unveiling of a law President Francois Hollande’s government hopes will boost investment and jobs.
But many business-owners are sceptical that it will help them and want a drastic reduction in corporate tax rates.
“We are the economy, we are work,” a rally of largely small business-owners and traders chanted outside the Finance Ministry in Paris where Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron is preparing the law. Police put the turnout at 2,200, about half that estimated by the CGPME small business lobby that organised it.
French businesses have some of the narrowest margins in Europe, while rigid labour laws are sometimes blamed for discouraging employers to hire extra staff. Unemployment is rooted above 10 per cent and jobless numbers rose in October. The European Commission has set France a March 2015 deadline to take steps to reform its economy or faces fines over its failure to bring its public deficit within EU limits.
While French trade unions are known for street protests, it is rare for employer lobbies to take to the streets. One of the last major protests was against the introduction of the 35-hour working week in 2000. —
