Amendments proposed by the government of Socialist Premier Lionel Jospin on April 24 would require companies that cut more than 1,000 employees at once to pay twice the current amount of mandatory severance pay and offer as much as six months of retraining. Mottier argues that the legislation is a political ploy from a government that is trying to win support from the left before next spring's presidential and parliamentary elections. Business further benefited when the administrative procedures to protect laid-off workers were loosened. Now, Naude worries, the new set of proposed rules would kick in just as aggressive labor reforms of the last few years are paying off. Coupled with last year's tax cuts, the reforms are feeding a boom in construction and personal spending that will be reflected in economic statistics for the first quarter of 2001.
Foreign companies are an easy target for French rage against global capitalism.
I just think it is not bringing in enough.