Civil servant job perks trigger French Socialist row

[unhappycamper]

http://www.france24.com/en/20150930-france-socialist-party-civil-servants-macron-valls-hollande-fonctionnaires



A banner reads ''civil servant pay, the figures don't add up'' during a protest against austerity measures on May 15, 2014 in Strasbourg, France

Civil servant job perks trigger French Socialist row
Latest update : 2015-09-30

What should have been a consensual reform to grant France’s civil servants their first pay rise in years turned into a bitter feud after the country’s free-speaking economy minister challenged their privileged status.

It was an all-too-familiar scene for observers of France’s Socialist government: a maverick minister blasting a symbol of the left, the French president implicitly disavowing him, and a second minister complaining bitterly that her colleague had trespassed on her domain – and stirred upheaval in the process.

The maverick was Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, a former investment banker who has infuriated many in the Socialist camp with his business-friendly rhetoric and repeated digs at left-wing symbols, chief among them the 35-hour week. Last week he had a go at another taboo: reforming France’s gargantuan civil service.

In remarks made to the press, Macron claimed the status of France’s more than five million civil servants, which gives them near-total job security, was “no longer adequate”. He added: “I don’t see why some in my ministry should benefit from a guaranteed job for life while the head of a cyber security firm is on a temporary contract.”

[JackInGreen]

1. We can always hope

He's introduced to Mssr.Guillotine.