French unions held a series of protests last year over Mr Macron’s plans to reform the public sector. Now the president wants to cut 120,000 jobs through voluntary redundancies Claude Paris/Associated PressEnraged by President Macron’s plans to reduce France’s huge public sector pay bill, seven trade unions joined forces last night to call for a day of strikes. The French leader wants to shed 120,000 jobs through voluntary redundancies, employ workers in local and central government on temporary contracts, and encourage performance-related pay. It’s our status which is being targeted,” said Nathalie Makarski, head of the CFE-CGC union’s public sector branch. Mr Macron has warned trade unions that the public sector can no longer operate like a “protected fortress” and that it must shrink in size and abandon some of its most costly benefits.

Source: The Times February 06, 2018 17:05 UTC