By Samindra Kunti
June 7 – France is a country in disarray as the final preparations are underway to host Euro 2016. Social unrest is one of the overarching problems to have marred the build-up and failure to agree an agreement with rail unions last night could disrupt travel during the tournament.
On Friday, France will play Romania in the curtain-raiser of the European Championship. The match promises to be a passionate 90 minutes with a hugely talented French team getting its Euro campaign under way on home soil under the stewardship of coach Didier Deschamps. A partisan crowd of 80,000 will attend at the Stade de France, the venue for the EURO 2016 final.
French president Francois Hollande has said that the tournament will be one big party, but Euro 2016 will be a test for the deeply unpopular politician who is in a stand-off with French Unions over a controversial labor law that liberalizes the job market.
The current socialist government wants to tackle the 10.5% unemployment rate in a bid to bolster its campaign for the presidential elections in 2017. President Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls proposed legislation that would allow the length of the working week to be negotiated individually at the company level.
But the French are protesting against Francois Hollande’s anti-social new labour law. The government invoked Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to bypass parliament and push through with the law.
The ‘Loi Travail’ maintains the 35-hour week but allow for flexible working hours. Companies can negotiate with local trade unions on more or fewer hours from week to week, up to a maximum of 46 hours. Firms will be given greater freedom to reduce pay. The law will ease conditions for laying off workers. Employers will be given more leeway to negotiate holidays and special leave, such as maternity or for getting married.
In the past all these regulations and provisions were heavily regulated.
Last week major protests, at times violent, took place across France. Petrol ran out at numerous gas stations.
The social unrest may badly affect Euro 2016 as Hollande is in a fight to prevent nationwide strikes during the tournament.
In the bitter dispute, the General Confederation of Labor, or CGT, is threatening to extend their protest wave through the start of the tournament. That risks hobbling transport and other key public services just as millions of fans prepare to travel across the country on planes and trains to reach the different host cities and venues.
Last night talks between the government and rail unions failed to produce a conclusive agreement. The four main rail unions have been given a week to sign a new framework agreement on working conditions in the industry. The CGT and another militant union SUD were cricital of the framework agreement, but indicated they’d consult their local branches.
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