This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/16/french-union-leader-philippe-martinez-continue-struggle-labour-law
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| French union leader vows to continue struggle against labour law | French union leader vows to continue struggle against labour law |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The union leader who has spearheaded strikes, blockades and demonstrations against labour law changes in France has vowed to keep up the protests until the government suspends the measures and agrees to talks. | The union leader who has spearheaded strikes, blockades and demonstrations against labour law changes in France has vowed to keep up the protests until the government suspends the measures and agrees to talks. |
| Philippe Martinez rejected a government demand to call off two planned days of national action after a children’s hospital was attacked during a march this week. The leader of France’s oldest and most powerful union, the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), said the hospital attack was “scandalous” and “completely unacceptable”, and blamed hooligan elements on the fringe of the protest. | Philippe Martinez rejected a government demand to call off two planned days of national action after a children’s hospital was attacked during a march this week. The leader of France’s oldest and most powerful union, the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), said the hospital attack was “scandalous” and “completely unacceptable”, and blamed hooligan elements on the fringe of the protest. |
| The struggle against the divisive law would go on, he told the Guardian and a group of international journalists. “What else can we do to show that this law is rejected by the country? We cannot be held responsible if the government refuses to listen. When you are in government you have to listen, not keep upping the ante. When you are in the wrong, it’s no longer a question of pride, you have to admit it,” Martinez said. | The struggle against the divisive law would go on, he told the Guardian and a group of international journalists. “What else can we do to show that this law is rejected by the country? We cannot be held responsible if the government refuses to listen. When you are in government you have to listen, not keep upping the ante. When you are in the wrong, it’s no longer a question of pride, you have to admit it,” Martinez said. |
| On Friday he will meet the work minister, Myriam El Khomri, who drew up the labour law, in an attempt to find a way to halt the conflict. The prime minister, Manuel Valls, has said there is no question of the government withdrawing the law, but he has hinted there could be modifications. | On Friday he will meet the work minister, Myriam El Khomri, who drew up the labour law, in an attempt to find a way to halt the conflict. The prime minister, Manuel Valls, has said there is no question of the government withdrawing the law, but he has hinted there could be modifications. |
| Related: 'France is not in chaos': PM Manuel Valls says labour reforms must go ahead | Related: 'France is not in chaos': PM Manuel Valls says labour reforms must go ahead |
| Martinez, who accused the government of failing to consult unions over the law, has previously demanded it be scrapped. | Martinez, who accused the government of failing to consult unions over the law, has previously demanded it be scrapped. |
| On Thursday he said the CGT was prepared to talk and ready for compromise, but insisted the government must first halt the bill’s progress through parliament. It is currently being debated by the upper house, the Sénat. | On Thursday he said the CGT was prepared to talk and ready for compromise, but insisted the government must first halt the bill’s progress through parliament. It is currently being debated by the upper house, the Sénat. |
| “It’s a good thing we can finally discuss this with the minister of work … and I hope we can discuss with cool heads,” he said. | “It’s a good thing we can finally discuss this with the minister of work … and I hope we can discuss with cool heads,” he said. |
| Martinez said the protests and industrial action were down to the government’s refusal to listen. “We didn’t just decide from one day to the next to have strikes everywhere … we’re not mobilised just because we want to make the streets of Paris and the provinces more colourful. But what can we do if there is a refusal to listen? | |
| “If the government announces the parliamentary process of the law is being suspended then we have something to discuss. If they don’t, the two days of action announced [23 and 28 June] go ahead. | “If the government announces the parliamentary process of the law is being suspended then we have something to discuss. If they don’t, the two days of action announced [23 and 28 June] go ahead. |
| “We want them to make some proposals. Have they made any proposals over the last three months? No they have not.” | “We want them to make some proposals. Have they made any proposals over the last three months? No they have not.” |
| Martinez has become the figurehead of a union movement that has broad public support in France, where between 50% and 72% of people think the labour law should be dropped. | Martinez has become the figurehead of a union movement that has broad public support in France, where between 50% and 72% of people think the labour law should be dropped. |
| Like his nemesis Valls, Martinez, 55, is the son of Spanish migrants. After working as a technician with the French car giant Renault, he became secretary general of the CGT in February last year. | Like his nemesis Valls, Martinez, 55, is the son of Spanish migrants. After working as a technician with the French car giant Renault, he became secretary general of the CGT in February last year. |
| In photographs, Martinez often comes across as a scowling, dour figure with dark eyebrows and a drooping black moustache. The centre-right Figaro describes him as “the man who wants to bring France to its knees”. At the Communist party congress earlier this month, he received a hero’s welcome. | |
| Related: Strikes, floods, protests and sense of betrayal pile on misery for France | Related: Strikes, floods, protests and sense of betrayal pile on misery for France |
| A Swiss journalist suggested the CGT industrial action appeared somewhat “archaic” to foreigners, a claim Martinez batted away. He said many European union leaders were envious of the CGT’s ability to mobilise members. | |
| “The CGT has had messages of support from all over the world. We are not on an isolated planet here and many unions [elsewhere] are watching what is happening in France,” he said. | |
| The new labour law is seen by many employers as making working practices more flexible and helping to address the country’s high number of unemployed people. Several unions, though not all, argue that it makes workers’ positions more precarious and is a charter for further exploitation. | |
| Since the Socialist government forced the legislation through the lower house, the Assemblée Nationale, in May using emergency constitutional powers to avoid a vote that it would almost certainly have lost due to rebels in its own party, the street demonstrations have been increasingly violent. | |
| Last month a police car with two officers inside was set alight, and on Tuesday rampaging demonstrators attacked the Necker children’s hospital in Paris. Afterwards, Valls said the CGT should call a halt to demonstrations and French union leaders announced two further days of industrial action. | Last month a police car with two officers inside was set alight, and on Tuesday rampaging demonstrators attacked the Necker children’s hospital in Paris. Afterwards, Valls said the CGT should call a halt to demonstrations and French union leaders announced two further days of industrial action. |
| Valls and Martinez agree on one thing: the hospital attack was unacceptable. But that is where any agreement ends. Valls accused the CGT of having an “ambiguous attitude” towards the hooligans and vandals, known as casseurs. Martinez, whose union stewards are known to keep a tight leash on protest marches, blamed the police and hinted they may be under orders not to stop the vandalism in order to discredit the CGT. | |
| “How is it that it’s not possible to stop the vandals and neutralise them, when they can round up football hooligans in Marseille in 48 hours?” Martinez said. “It is unacceptable for the government to point the finger at our organisation, which has nothing to do with what happened, or to suggest there is some kind of connivance between the casseurs and the CGT. | |
| “If you listen to the government, the CGT is responsible for everything – the rain, the sun … thankfully France won its football match last night or that would have been the CGT’s fault too.” | “If you listen to the government, the CGT is responsible for everything – the rain, the sun … thankfully France won its football match last night or that would have been the CGT’s fault too.” |
| Related: French police watchdog looks into violence at labour protests | Related: French police watchdog looks into violence at labour protests |
| Union demonstrators who have been seen throwing missiles at law enforcement officers were “defending themselves from the brutality of the police”, he added. “Either you offer up your face to the truncheon or you defend yourself.” | Union demonstrators who have been seen throwing missiles at law enforcement officers were “defending themselves from the brutality of the police”, he added. “Either you offer up your face to the truncheon or you defend yourself.” |
| Nobody, least of all the CGT leader himself, expects a miracle from his meeting with the work minister on Friday. “The prime minister has said ‘I’m for talks, the door is open, but we’re changing nothing,’” he said. | Nobody, least of all the CGT leader himself, expects a miracle from his meeting with the work minister on Friday. “The prime minister has said ‘I’m for talks, the door is open, but we’re changing nothing,’” he said. |
| Asked whether he was surprised that this industrial dispute had arisen under a Socialist administration, Martinez added: “The CGT is politically independent. The reality of this law is that it will affect the lives of millions of workers in jobs and the young coming into work in the years to come. | |
| “Effectively, it’s the first time so large a social movement has happened under a French president from the left, which shows it’s not the colour of the government that matters, we are protesting only against a law.” | “Effectively, it’s the first time so large a social movement has happened under a French president from the left, which shows it’s not the colour of the government that matters, we are protesting only against a law.” |