Loud & Clear Host Brian Becker highlighted that President Hollande, outside the scope of his parliamentary power, is attempting to impose the French Labor Reform Bill, which increases the work week from 35 hours to 46, empowers companies to reduce pay, lay off workers and jeopardize holidays and special leave.
"The problem with France isn’t that people work too long or work too little for the week," Hedley responded, "It’s that they’re tied to Germany’s fiscal policy, which prevents France from lowering its interest rates and, in turn, devaluing its currency. All these things mean that, when it’s tied to a far bigger and more powerful German economy, that the French economy comes up second best."
Hedley added that government officials have tried to intervene, but French workers are disenchanted with a ruling party that they believe isn't living up to its progressive title. "The Minister of Labor and Francois Hollande got involved and said there might be some concessions, but really the workers aren’t interested in concessions. The Socialist Party is socialist in name only, they’ve got no socialist policies whatsoever, and if you talk to the French workers, they’ll say that they’re even worse than the Sarkozy government, which was a right-wing government."
Becker asked Hedley if he thought the French government would be successful in quashing resistance, observing that "France is starting to endure real fuel shortages but without workers things don’t move."
"I don’t think they’re going to succeed." Hedley declared, "I’ve been to France quite a few times and I’ve never seen this level of passions and determination amongst the workforce….What you’ve got on one hand is the workforce, the unions, showing a high degree of determination, and already you’ve got splits in the so-called socialist government between former ministers and those currently in power."
Hedley feels that at the root of the French labor reform bill, the strikes and general dissatisfaction amongst workers in France and other countries is systemic, deeper than simple poor policy and bad government.
"I think that what’s happening here is the same as in America.” He explained,” There’s a smaller and smaller percentage of the capitalist class appropriating more and more wealth for itself and the inequalities are becoming ever more stark. Not just in America, but across Europe. And people for the first time in a long time are openly questioning the system, they’re saying that capitalism isn’t working for the vast majority of people. And they’re looking a radical, more socialist approach."
