Northwestern University Newsfeed

March 31, 2006

France’s top constitutional court has upheld the legality of labor legislation that has sparked protest from young workers in unions. Monica Prasad is an assistant professor of sociology at Northwestern University and says a big reason for the protests is the way the law was passed by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin….

PRASAD: In France, it’s very easy for the government to just implement a law without any consultation from anyone. We can’t really do that in the U.S. because of our system. In France, it is very easy to do that. What happened is that Monsieur de Villepin decided not to consult anyone. So, part of the resistance is just to that…to the manner in which it was implemented.

Prasad says the legislation is Villepin’s response to last fall’s protests over high unemployment rates among young workers…

PRASAD: His idea is that if you make it easier to fire young workers, employers will be more willing to hire them because then you aren’t stuck with them if it’s very easy to fire them. It’s not really the best approach to the solution because most economists say you should just do this across the board…there is no particular reason to make it easier to fire young workers…you should just make it easier to fire everyone.

Prasad believes France could be in a no-win situation as of now….

PRASAD: If they don’t back down from the law and these protests continue, then tourism takes a big big hit and that is very bad. If they do back off from these reforms, then they probably are not going to be able to address unemployment. And then you get back into the situation of last November. You get people complaining…rioting because of unemployment.

Prasad says labor laws in France vary greatly from those in the United States where it is often very easy for both an employer and employee to terminate employment…

PRASAD: There is a degree of variability to it, but in general it is much harder to fire someone in France. There are situations where you have to consult with what they call the “Works Councils”….you have to give reasons… it just takes a little longer to fire someone and is a little bit harder.