French employers push programme

The main French employers' association, Medef, has continued to press for major changes in France's system of industrial relations and social protection (see Labour Research March 2000). In an interview with the newspaper Liberation, published on 6 April, the president of Medef, Ernest-Antoine SelliŠre, repeated his threat that if there was no progress on their agenda the employers would quit the joint bodies running much of France's employment and social system. In an earlier meeting with representatives of all the main union confederations in France Medef called for the length of temporary contracts to be extended beyond their current limit of 18 months. In the meantime contracts should be linked to a specific task or to have a maximum, rather than minimum, length. This is part of an overall strategy by Medef to reduce the role of the state in the area of employment.