Word: reformer
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...stoppages by French workers and their notoriously militant labor unions. Here on Planet France, however, those protests over proposed pension cutbacks are being viewed as the first major battle in a wider zero-sum war - the outcome of which will determine the fate of President Nicolas Sarkozy's vast reform program...
...next week's demonstrations by civil service employees protesting nearly 23,000 job cuts in the public sector planned for 2008. The logic behind such a move would be to attain and increase critical mass opposing Sarkozy's policies. French college students are already staging protests over approved university reform they want rescinded, while thousands of members of France's judicial system will march Nov. 29 to denounce proposed reorganization. Given that rising and potentially unifying resistance to reform, government officials believe they must stand firm against these unions leading Wednesday's strikes...
...apply this reform, we may as well stop because we won't achieve any others," Henri Guaino, a special advisor to Sarkozy, told the daily Libération. During a visit to Germany on Monday, Sarkozy voiced even steelier determination when declaring, "We were elected to transform France, and will apply these reforms because they must be applied." Aware of union promises to employ bare-knuckled defense of the "special regime" pensions, French Prime Minister François Fillon advised his parliamentary backers to "fasten your seat belts" ahead of tomorrow's turbulence...
...civil servants, justice employees and students are equally up in arms over government policy, why is Wednesday's transport strike and its probable sequels seen as the decisive struggle in France's wider reform drive? Firstly, because successive governments have previously proposed and failed to modify the "special regimes" in the face of union resistance. And that is the second reason why the renewed attempt is producing a high-drama showdown. Although strong in sectors like transport - where strikes often cause enormous disruption - French unions represent less than 8% of the national workforce, and have seen their influence steadily wane...
...wins, the last major barricade to reform falls, and the road ahead of him is cleared," explains political analyst Dominique Reynié. "If he fails or compromises the measure away, the unions come out strengthened, and he has to face the anger of his own conservative backers who will accuse him of selling...