The Social Dialog is Far from Friendly

Written by Hilary Barnes Important negotiations between France's employer organisations and the trade unions on reforms of the labour market have "reached a dead end", declared Laurence Parisot, head MEDEF, the most powerful of the employer organisations, on a French radio programme on January 7. The negotiations have been seen as the the key to one of the most important structural reforms of which France is in need in its efforts to improve the efficiency of the economy. Organisations such as the European Commission, the OECD and the IMF, who monitor the French economy, all agree that the rigidity of the labour market, where firing is so costly and difficult that firms are very cautious when it comes to hiring, is a serious brake on growth and has contributed to the persistently high unemployment rates over the past 20 years (currently about 10.7%). Read more »