Labour Protests Fail To Draw Large Crowds

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High school pupils shout slogans while taking part in a nationwide day of protest against deeply unpopular labor reforms that have divided the Socialist government and raised hackles in a country accustomed to iron-clad job security, on March 9, 2016 in Bordeaux, southwestern France

The new French president is losing his popularity over the newer reforms he is bringing in. With his project Macron, he has lost many of his supporters and much of his popularity.

When he brought in the talks of project Macron, the president Emmanuel Macron, came off as ambitious and strong-minded. But his continuous endeavors to get his way with the project and his efforts to change the European Union did not sit well with many other politicians. Macron’s project aims to change how things work and aims to protect France and EU from outside threats.

Copies of French labour code are displayed on August 29, 2017 in Nantes, western France.

To tackle problems Macron changed many labor reforms. The change in these reforms agitated the French crowd and then began the mass strikes and protests. The seventh French Air Strike, which forced many airlines to cancel and delay their flights, was a result of these changes in the reforms. The damage caused by the air strike was extremely significant.

However, the other protests did not seem to gather a large crowd. With a lack of numbers in the protests, it appears that the protest has lost its steam. The protests, in the beginning, had gathered a large number of crowds, all of the workers demanding answers. But as time passed, the number slowly and gradually declined.

At a protest in Paris, the turnout of the number of people was estimated to be sixty thousand. But only twenty-five thousand showed up. In another area, the turnout crowd number was estimated only be of five thousand members.

Many activists are enraged with the small gatherings. They workers need to be heard at the place they are working to get the optimum results for both parties, one of the activists was heard stating. Another activist, Johann Le Saux a thirty-eight-year-old railway worker, said that he thought people of France needed to wake up and do something.

With two protest dates in France, the numbers failed to draw any attention. There were fewer and fewer people on the streets demanding for a change.

French President Emmanuel Macron signs documents on a new labour bill in his office at the Élysée Palace in Paris on September 22.

The president had used executive orders to get past the long parliamentary discussions, which would have delayed the enforcement of these labor reforms. The president chose the fast track method and said that it was to overcome the sluggish economy of France. Macron staked his popularity with the crowd with this decision. After fast-tracking this reform, Macron lost many of his supporters.

According to many other politicians, this reform should not have been implemented. They say that France’s unemployment rate is still at a little above nine percent. This reform will not do any good for the people and the workers of the country. The unemployment rate of France is twice of that in Britain or Germany.

Macron’s view on the changing of reforms was due to the generous and relaxed programs which allowed unemployed residents in France to live properly. According to his beliefs, these reforms needed immediate change as these reforms were one of the main reasons for the economy’s slow progress. A new bill, which was set to be signed by April, aimed to change those generous reforms.

The proposed change to the existing reforms has included many legal requirements for both employers and employees. The biggest problem with the change is that in case of dismissal the dismissed employee will only be paid the amount of money for three working months. Along with this change in the employment structure in certain areas. All of this led to mass protests all over the country.

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