French President Emmanuel Macron declared Thursday that strikes and protests will not prevent him from overhauling the nation’s economy – comments that came as train workers, hospital staff, students, retirees, lawyers and magistrates are challenging his economic vision, reports The Washington Post.
Macron appeared on national television channel TF1 on Thursday to respond to the public’s concerns and defend his economic policies and tax changes, which he says are aimed at modernizing the country.
The interview, in a schoolroom in a small village in western France, came hours ahead of a new round of train worker strikes.
Speaking with children’s drawings in the background, Macron said public anger “doesn’t stop” him and vowed to continue with the train reforms, meant to prepare France’s national SNCF railway to open up to competition.
“We will continue because the world around us is speeding up, going through great changes, and because our country must be able to choose its destiny and live better,” he said.
In what some portray as a fight for the identity of France, Macron wants to reduce the role of the state and inject vitality in the economy by trimming guarantees for workers and increasing competition among companies, among other things.
His critics say he is favoring the rich and eroding workers’ hard-won labour rights with moves that risk increasing wealth disparity in a country whose national motto includes the word “equality.”
Macron justified a tax rise for retirees, saying it’s needed to be able to finance the pensions. He also insisted tax cuts for employees and businesses would boost investment and create more jobs.
Last year, despite labor protests, the government used a special, accelerated procedure to push a labour bill through parliament that many feel weakened France’s worker protections.
This spring, Macron’s government initiated changes to tax retirees more and employees less, cut jobs in some hospitals, reorganize the justice system and apply a new university admissions system — all prompting protests.
But Macron’s biggest challenge as president so far is from French train unions resisting his attempts to eliminate rules that effectively give workers jobs for life.
It has prompted nationwide strikes that have massively disrupted train traffic, and unions plan periodic rolling strikes through June. Legislators begin debating the train labour bill this week.
Read more of this AP report pubished by The Washington Post.
- Emmanuel Macron is due to appear in a live interview on Mediapart this Sunday, April 15th, which will be streamed in open access.