French Minister Pelted with Eggs as Strikes Lose Steam
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – France's economy minister was pelted with eggs on Monday as a strike against planned labor reforms disrupted rail services for a sixth straight day but appeared to be losing steam.
French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron was splattered on the head when militants of the hardline CGT trade union cornered him at a post office in the Paris suburb of Montreuil, where he was launching a stamp to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the "popular front" government that gave French workers new rights.
Macron, who advocates economic reforms to loosen rigid labor market rules and promote flexibility and competition, has become a bogeyman for traditional leftists.
"It's all par for the course but it won't have any impact on my determination," Macron told reporters after the attack, saying there was no economic future for those who resisted change.
Despite the incident, participation in strikes and protests against the labor reform is dwindling, with just 8.5 percent of rail workers still on strike, the SNCF state railway said ahead of crucial negotiations between management and unions over a reorganization of working time, Reuters reported.
Rail connections remained seriously disrupted, however, as the company worked to secure a truce before the Euro 2016 soccer tournament kicks off in France on Friday. About 60 percent of high-speed TGV and regional trains were running and one-third of slower inter-city services.
Socialist President Francois Hollande, piling pressure on the CGT, said on Sunday it would be incomprehensible if rail and airline strikes prevented fans travelling to matches during the month-long championship.
Negotiators worked to clinch a deal by an end of Monday deadline after the government intervened last week pledging to safeguard rest periods and help the SNCF with its debt of 50 billion euros ($57 billion) before passenger services open to private competition in 2020.
Their task is complicated by the fact that the communist-founded CGT union, along with smaller labor unions such as Force Ouvriere, is also on the warpath over the labor reform that would make hiring and firing easier and give precedence to deals on pay and conditions negotiated at company level.
