The French government has withdrawn its "contrat première embauche" (CPE), or "first employment contract," surrendering after more than two months of protests by students and workers. The new law would have made it possible to fire employees under the age of 26 during an initial two-year period, but now that has been scrapped, making what might be the first time popular strength has blocked a neoliberal attempt at labor market flexibility in Europe. The neoliberalism that had been spreading unhindered has been hit with a strong headwind in France, with its history of revolution.
The situation in France is not going to immediately spread to other countries, but it does look like at the very least, popular animosity towards neoliberalism will grow quickly. Even before the events in France, a negative view of neoliberalism as something that hurts the quality of life had been gaining strength. One view holds that the rejection of the European constitution in France and the Netherlands was because of that kind of thinking.
The French government says it will soon announce alternative legislation and the opposition socialist party, too, is said to be trying come up with policy proposals that would work to solve youth unemployment, ahead of next year's presidential election. France's process of lessening legislation's neoliberal coloring while finding new policies that promote employment will be a valuable reference for us in Korea. Our government has been pursuing "irregular worker legislation" that is similar to what was just rejected in France, and it has stubbornly insisted that Korea has no other alternatives. However, the criticism is that it is not trying to find any alternatives, and that the problem is not that there aren't any. It is time for Korea to actively look for other solutions.
Something else we need to learn about from the events in France is a political climate where the sovereign people's wishes are respected. Though it was late in coming around, the French government brought the situation to a close by giving ear to the people's voice. We hope to see our politicians learn from this that politics must not counter the popular will.
The Hankyoreh, 12 April 2006.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] French Labor 'Contract' Bends to Strength of Masses |
