French Jobs Law Failure

Quote:

French jobs law climbdown
Prime minister says he regrets failure of proposed legislation

Monday, April 10, 2006 Posted: 0927 GMT (1727 HKT)

PARIS, France (AP) -- President Jacques Chirac, bowing to intense pressure from students and unions, announced plans Monday to replace a contested jobs law that fanned large protests and strikes across France.

Chirac's office said a new plan focusing on youths from troubled backgrounds will replace the "first job contract," which would have made it easier for companies to fire workers under 26.

The move comes as a blow to Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who had championed the law despite weeks of protests across the country.

Acting on a proposal from Villepin, his longtime protege, Chirac decided to "replace" a key provision of the law with a measure aimed at "youths in difficulty," a statement from the president's office said.

The conservative government has pushed the law as a way to reduce high unemployment among French youths.

Chirac enacted the law earlier this month, but immediately suspended it to give ruling conservative lawmakers the chance to meet with unions and look for a way out of the crisis.

Unions were expected to make their own announcement Monday about whether to stage more of the protests and strikes that have shut down universities and tangled traffic in recent weeks -- and cast a shadow on what is likely to be Chirac's last year in office.

A visibly somber Villepin, speaking moments after Chirac ordered the measure replaced, said he had hoped to act quickly to reduce soaring youth joblessness. "This was not understood by everyone, I'm sorry to say."

What do other people think? I'm dismayed that this law failed. It was a chance for the French to finally start getting their labor market in order and start dealing with the issues they faced, and yet ignorant fools at the Sorbornne and employees who expect lifelong employment and can't adjust to a changing world triumphed. It's a sad day for France and for Europe, now the French join the ranks of Italy and have the joy of becoming a state in decline.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Quote:

There are valid claims for both sides. The measure was meant to help the "youth" be employed. But having no job security is almost the same as having no employment at all. Hehe as an employer though that be cool. I wouldn't have to go through the normal hassles of having to discharge an employee and go through all that paperwork.

Anyway why should I say this? Because as an employee I'll potentially never get anywhere with that hiring scheme. Even here with the six month preliminary work for security tenure I see a lot of companies not following this. They actually hire someone for at least 5 months then immediately discharge him/her. It still doesn't guarantee any form of job security when you come to think about it.

This hiring scheme also lacks any possible increase or sustenance of motivation for these workers when any positive performance does not guarantee a stable paying job.

Ever seen statistics though? 22% unemployment is no joke, and if its that high, the French don't really have a choice. You get job security after two years, so work and do a good job. The French economy is in decline, it is less competetive, and won't remain the titan it currently is for much longer.

Also, France is probably the most diametrically opposed country to globalization. A majority of its people for example, aspire to get jobs with the state (only 32% want to be in the private sector), and there are other stats just as disturbing.

This law would have started in making the French competitive for international investment, but unions and their complete lack of foresight shelved it.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Quote:

My thoughts were that young workers were essentially facing a continuous string of low-wages jobs up until they're 26, putting a serious crimp in their efforts to begin building a stable financial foundation for themselves. With a 22% unemployment rate, there is no shortage of people looking for a job, so it is every bit in a company's best interest to continuously turnover young workers so that nobody stays on long enough to earn significant wage increases.

In the US, places like movie theaters, grocery stores, and Wal-Mart actually count on the high turnover rate of minimum wage jobs so that they don't ever have to pay anybody very much above minimum wage. Even the managers are encouraged to move on after a while. This law would ensure this sort of behavior no matter where you worked, meaning you'd have to wait until 26 to even think about starting a career.

It was just a nasty, underhanded way to exploit the current unemployment situation, and Homey wasn't playing that. It's not just American businesses who are looking to fuck their workers in the ass any way they can.

At the same time though, France's labor market is so secure and protected that companies just don't want to take the risk hiring people since firing them for incompetence is virtually impossible.

Also, a temporary job is better than no job, even at minimum wage. If people just made a little money running between jobs, it would be better for the economy than the current situation of just not having one.

How ya doing, buddy?

Quote:

I can't believe you're overlooking the personal livlihoods of people for rubbish like "the national economy."

Because personal livelyhood cannot exist without a strong national economy. An economy in the toilet results in unemployment and people out of jobs. It's not that hard of a concept to understand, indeed, its rather obvious.

Quote:

Villepin's biggest mistake was passing the law by force, if he took the regular law-making way, it would have had a much better chance. Chirac didn't help out either, reacting too late as usual, only adding fuel to the fire, and in the end weakening his PM's position. And of course there's Sarkozy, who couldn't help but make sneer remarks. I won't even mention the opposition, since imo they didn't even try to take advantage of the situation.

Indeed, I'll agree with you on that. Villepan should have probably been more diplomatic about pushing it through, and the government has failed miserably, just like every other European government that desperately needs reform, to convince their people that this was not only important, but necessary for France's long term survival as a global power.

In the end, the government botched the attempt miserably, although at the same time, I'm stunned at how little knowledge many French seem to have of how bad the situation really has become.

Although I can take some solace - if you looked at it, students at Economics schools and Sciences Pol didn't protest. The whole spectrum of people who truely understood how important this was didn't fight it, and its a shame people didn't attempt to look to those who knew more on the topic.

It's a sad day, I really do like Chirac and Villepan, even though I'm not French. They genuinely tried something drastic to help France, and if anything, history will give them credit if anything, of having the foresight and the guts to try something nobody will for a long time.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Quote:

Okay anyway just to clarify since I'm not so familiar with France.
1. Where does this 22% unemployment rate come from
2. Is the 22% mainly youth or a mixture of French people
3. Even if the law is passed what is the projected number of jobs to be available for the youth
4. What type of jobs are available for the youth anyway? And will the 2 year policy be prone to abuse? (well it will be anyway)

1. Youth Unemployment mainly.
2. Mixture of Youth
3. No idea, its meant to allow employers to be more liberal in hiring practices since their biggest impediment was the fact that its impossibly hard to fire workers.
4. Mostly governmental jobs as most of the country aspires for jobs in the public sector in which people are almost never fired. And yes, there is a possibility it would be abused, just like any policy.


But its all failed now, so in a sense, its back to the status quo.

I was speaking idiomatically.