Text 8705, 94 rader
Skriven 2005-02-05 19:39:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: French workers
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http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?id=2005020510520002139828&
dt=20050205105200&w=RTR&coview=


Thousands of French protest longer working hours 



PARIS, Feb 5 (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac's conservative 
government faced a major challenge to its economic policies on Saturday 
as tens of thousands of public and private sector workers protested over 
labour laws, pensions and schools. 

With more than 50,000 taking to the streets in provincial cities, 
organisers said they hoped for a national turnout of at least 300,000 
nationwide to ram home their message. 

"The government would do well not only to hear but to listen to the 
workers," said the secretary-general of the CGT union, Bernard Thibault, 
at the start of the rally in Paris. 

The protests come as parliament debates a government plan to allow staff 
in the private sector to increase overtime and work up to 48 hours a 
week, the maximum allowed under EU law. But managers must first agree 
the changes with unions. 


Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin says rules must be relaxed to help 
cut stubbornly high unemployment, currently close to 10 percent, and 
make the world's fifth largest economy more competitive. 


Four of France's five major unions called Saturday's protests against 
reforms they say would sound the death knell of the 35-hour week and 
result in longer hours without extra pay. 


"Chirac, Raffarin, are you sleeping? Your workers are in the street," 
chanted demonstrators in Toulouse in southwest France. 


The 35-hour week was introduced in 1998 by the previous Socialist 
administration in an effort to reduce joblessness. The party has called 
on Raffarin to abandon his reform and re-open negotiations with the 
unions. 


"This reform will have very unfortunate consequences on the labour 
market as, at a time when we have three million unemployed, overtime 
will be increased which will deprive even more people of jobs," said 
Socialist party leader Francois Hollande at a demonstration in the 
western city of Rennes. 


GOVERNMENT WARY 


Buoyed by the success of Jan. 20 rallies that drew support from 210,000 
state workers -- the public sector employs about a quarter of the French 
workforce -- unions say their campaign is gaining momentum. 


Raffarin is wary of large public protests after voters punished his 
government for unpopular economic cutbacks in regional and European 
Parliament elections last year. 


He has played down any parallels with street protests that are widely 
seen as causing the downfall of the last conservative government in 
1997. 


Although no elections are due before 2007, the cash-strapped government 
is concerned French voters could express their anger over reforms when 
they vote in a referendum on the European Union constitution before the 
summer. 


Both Raffarin and Chirac have urged voters to approve the treaty on its 
merits and not allow themselves to be sidetracked by domestic political 
issues. 


A recent poll showed some 77 percent of workers surveyed wanted to keep 
their working week at the current level. Only 18 percent wanted to work 
longer hours. 


(Additional reporting by Nicolas Fichot in Toulouse, Pierre-Henri Allain 
in Rennes)


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