Macron warned on labour law


Laurent Berger, general secretary of the CFDT, the French union confederation with the largest degree of support in the private sector, has warned new president Emmanuel Macron against hasty changes to French labour law. 


Macron has said that he wants to make rapid progress in this area, with new measures being introduced from the autumn, possibly through regulations rather than legislation (which has to go through parliament). 


However, for Berger, who heads the more moderate of the two big union confederations, “a hurried reform of the labour code would be counter-productive”. He argues that discussion with unions and employers is “essential”, and takes time. 


In any case, he believes that changing employment law on its own will not create employment, calling, among other things, for greater employee involvement in company decision-making.